First antenatal visit (PI13)

This indicator is the proportion of female Indigenous regular clients who gave birth within the previous 12 months who had their first antenatal care visit recorded as either:

It is reported here in two parts as the proportion of female Indigenous regular clients who gave birth within the previous 12 months who had:

  • an antenatal care visit and gestational age recorded at their first antenatal care visit
  • an antenatal care visit and gestational age recorded at their first antenatal care visit, with the timing of that visit recorded as either:
    • before 14 weeks
    • 14–19 weeks
    • 20 or more weeks.

It is collected for age groups:

  • less than 20
  • 20–34
  • 35 and over.

There have been changes to the specification of this indicator over time. See Technical notes for more information.

Why antenatal care is important

Antenatal care is a planned visit between a pregnant woman and a midwife or doctor to assess and improve the wellbeing of the mother and baby throughout pregnancy. It does not include visits where the sole purpose is to confirm the pregnancy.

Antenatal care provides an opportunity to find, treat, and provide advice on chronic or pre-existing conditions that might cause pregnancy-related complications, such as hypertension, diabetes, mental health problems, sexually transmitted infections, tobacco and alcohol misuse, inadequate nutrition, and unhealthy weight.

Regular antenatal care, and especially that starting in the first trimester, is associated with less pregnancy-related complications and with positive maternal and child health outcomes.

The proportion of Indigenous mothers attending an antenatal visit in the first trimester has increased over time. Indigenous mothers, however, are less likely than non-Indigenous mothers to have their first antenatal care visit in the first trimester (AIHW 2022).

At June 2022, 71% (or around 4,600) of female Indigenous regular clients had an antenatal care visit and gestational age recorded at their first antenatal care visit, 29% (1,900) did not.

Of those who had an antenatal care visit and gestational age recorded at their first antenatal care visit:

Timing of first antenatal visit, by reporting period

This Tableau visualisations shows the percentage of female Indigenous regular clients who gave birth in the last year by the timing of their first antenatal visit (select for before 14 weeks, 14–19 weeks, 20 or more weeks), for reporting periods between June 2017 and June 2022.

The second tab shows the percentage of female Indigenous regular clients who gave birth in the last year by whether they had an antenatal visit and gestational age recorded in the last year. 

Data supporting this visualisation are available in Excel supplementary data tables at Data.

Having an antenatal care visit and gestational age recorded at the first antenatal care visit was highest in:

  • Western Australia (86%)
  • Inner regional areas (82%)
  • Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) (74%).

Of those who had an antenatal care visit and gestational age recorded at their first antenatal care visit, having the first antenatal visit in the first trimester was highest in:

  • South Australia (67%)
  • Inner regional areas (68%)
  • organisations other than Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (non-ACCHOs) (73%).
     

Timing of first antenatal visit, by either state/territory, remoteness or organisation type, and reporting period.

Two Tableau visualisations are presented here. The first shows the percentage of female Indigenous regular clients who gave birth in the last year by the timing of their first antenatal visit (select for before 14 weeks, 14–19 weeks, 20 or more weeks, not recorded or no visit) for either:

  • state/territory (NSW/ACT, Vic, Qld, WA, SA, Tas, NT, Total)
  • remoteness area (Major cities, Inner regional, Outer regional, Remote, Very remote, Total)
  • organisation type (ACCHO, non-ACCHO, Total).

Reporting periods of either June 2021, December 2021, or June 2022 can be selected.

The second visualisation shows the selected information from the first visualisation by age group (<20, 20–34, 35 and over).

The second tab contains the same categories as above except instead of the timing of first visit it shows the percentage of female Indigenous regular clients that had an antenatal visit and gestational age recorded.

Data supporting this visualisation are available in Excel supplementary data tables at Archived content.

Reference

AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2022) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework: antenatal care. Canberra: AIHW.