First antenatal visit (PI13)

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

  • before 11 weeks
  • 11–13 weeks
  • 14–19 weeks
  • 20 or more weeks
  • gestational age not recorded at first antenatal visit or did not have an antenatal visit.

It is reported here in 2 parts as the proportion of female First Nations regular clients who gave birth within the previous 12 months who had:

  • an antenatal visit and gestational age recorded at their first antenatal visit
  • an antenatal visit and gestational age recorded at their first antenatal 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. For more information see Interpreting nKPI data.

Why antenatal care is important

Regular antenatal care, and especially that starting in the first trimester, is associated with better maternal health in pregnancy, fewer interventions in late pregnancy and positive child health outcomes (AIHW and NIAA 2024).

The targets in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap include several aimed at children, including a target to increase the proportion of First Nations babies with a healthy birthweight to 91% by 2031 (with supporting indicators on the use of antenatal care by pregnant women).

Data from the National Perinatal Data Collection show that the proportion of First Nations mothers attending an antenatal visit in the first trimester has increased over time. First Nations mothers, however, are less likely than non-Indigenous mothers to have their first antenatal visit in the first trimester.

At June 2025, 73% of (or around 4,300) female First Nations regular clients had an antenatal visit and had gestational age recorded at their first antenatal visit, and 27% (1,600) did not (Figure 14).

The data visualisation below (Figure 14) shows, for each collection period from June 2021 to June 2025, the proportion of female First Nations regular clients who gave birth within the previous 12 months who had or did not have an antenatal visit and gestational age recorded at their first antenatal visit. Select by either:

  • organisation type
  • remoteness
  • state/territory
  • age group

to see data for that breakdown.

Data tables supporting this visualisation are available at Data.

Figure 14: Whether first antenatal visit and gestational age were recorded by collection period

Overall, the proportion of female First Nations regular clients who gave birth within the previous 12 months who had an antenatal visit and gestational age recorded at their first antenatal visit generally showed little or no change between December 2022 and June 2025.

Overall, the proportion of female First Nations regular clients who gave birth within the previous 12 months who had an antenatal visit and gestational age recorded at their first antenatal visit generally showed little or no change between December 2022 and June 2025.

Notes

  1. In June 2021, specifications changed for this indicator. Data on whether or not there was an antenatal visit or the gestational age was recorded at the first antenatal visit can be compared with previous periods with caution. For more information see Interpreting nKPI data. Data prior to June 2021 are not presented here (for consistency with Figure 15) but can be found in Archived content.
  2. A break is included to separate out the periods most affected by voluntary reporting and the peak of COVID-19 and associated emergency response measures. This break, however, is not a clean break as each indicator in the nKPI collection has an assigned time frame (a reference period) as part of its specification. For this indicator, which has a reference period of 12 months, data in the December 2022 collection period (covering 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022) still overlaps with the peak of COVID-19 and associated emergency response measures. For more information see Comparisons over time.
  3. The linear trend lines provide a general impression of the direction of the data. Caution should be taken interpreting trends with less than 5 data points. See also Figure 13 for trends for selected data.
  4. For more information, including on interpreting changes over time, see Technical notes.

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

  • 62% (or around 2,600) had their visit before 14 weeks (first trimester)
  • 18% (or around 750) had their visit at 14–19 weeks
  • 20% (or around 860) had their visit at 20 or more weeks (Figure 15).

The data visualisation below (Figure 15) shows, for each collection period from June 2021 to June 2025, the proportion of female First Nations regular clients who gave birth within the previous 12 months who had an antenatal visit and gestational age recorded at their first antenatal visit by the timing of that visit. Select by either:

  • organisation type
  • remoteness
  • state/territory
  • age group

to see data for that breakdown.

Data tables supporting this visualisation are available at Data.

Figure 15: Timing of first antenatal visit by collection period and timing of visit

Overall, the proportion of female First Nations regular clients who gave birth within the previous 12 months who had an antenatal visit and gestational age recorded at their first antenatal visit and had their first antenatal visit before 14 weeks generally showed little or no change between December 2022 and June 2025.

Overall, the proportion of female First Nations regular clients who gave birth within the previous 12 months who had an antenatal visit and gestational age recorded at their first antenatal visit and had their first antenatal visit before 14 weeks generally showed little or no change between December 2022 and June 2025.

Notes

  1. In June 2021, specifications changed for this indicator and data from that point on for the total and most visit timing categories (except ’20 or more weeks’) cannot be compared with previous periods. For more information see Interpreting nKPI data.
  2. Proportions are calculated using the denominator of female First Nations regular clients who had an antenatal visit and gestational age recorded at their first antenatal visit.
  3. The linear trend lines provide a general impression of the direction of the data. Caution should be taken interpreting trends with less than 5 data points. See also Figure 13 for trends for selected data.
  4. A break is included to separate out the periods most affected by voluntary reporting and the peak of COVID-19 and associated emergency response measures. This break, however, is not a clean break as each indicator in the nKPI collection has an assigned time frame (a reference period) as part of its specification. For this indicator, which has a reference period of 12 months, data in the December 2022 collection period (covering 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022) still overlaps with the peak of COVID-19 and associated emergency response measures. For more information see Comparisons over time.
  5. For more information, including on interpreting changes over time, see Technical notes.

Reference

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and National Indigenous Australians Agency (2024) Measure 3.01 Antenatal care, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework website, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 17 October 2025.

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