Maternal country of birth
The maternal country of birth may influence the health and wellbeing of both the mother and the baby. For example, babies of mothers who were born in some regions (grouped maternal countries of birth) have been shown to have higher rates of stillbirth and neonatal morbidity (Berman et al. 2019; Berman et al. 2021; Davies-Tuck et al. 2017). Consideration of the mothers’ country of birth during planning and delivery of maternity care will likely improve outcomes (Davies-Tuck et al. 2017).
Figure 1 presents data on maternal country of birth and the 10 most common maternal countries of birth in 2021. Hover or select the map to see the number and proportion of women who gave birth in each country.
Figure 1: Proportion of women who gave birth, by maternal country of birth
Map of the proportion of women who gave birth by their country of birth. After Australia the most common country of birth was India.
Around 2 in 3 (66%) mothers were born in Australia. After Australia, the most common countries of birth were India (5.4%), New Zealand (2.6%) and the United Kingdom (2.5%).
For more information on maternal country of birth see National Perinatal Data Collection annual update data table 2.7.
References
Berman Y, Ibiebele I, Patterson JA, Randall D, Ford JB, Nippita T, Morris JM, Davies-Tuck ML and Torvaldsen S (2019) ‘Rates of stillbirth by maternal region of birth and gestational age in New South Wales, Australia 2004-2015’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 60(3):425–432, doi:10.1111/ajo.13085.
Berman Y, Ibiebele I, Randall D, Torvaldsen S, Nippita TA, Bowen J, Baldwin HJ, Todd SM, Morris JM, Ford JB and Patterson JA (2021) ‘Rates of neonatal morbidity by maternal region of birth and gestational age in New South Wales, Australia 2003-2016’, Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, 100(2):331–338, doi:10.1111/aogs.14012.
Davies-Tuck ML, Davey MA and Wallace EM (2017) ‘Maternal region of birth and stillbirth in Victoria, Australia 2000-2011: a retrospective cohort study of Victorian perinatal data’, PLOS One, 12(6):e0178727, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0178727.