Australia's mothers and babies

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).

The data visualisation below presents data on maternal country of birth and the 10 most common maternal countries of birth in 2020. Hover or click on the map to see the number and proportion of women who gave birth in each country.

Nearly 2 in 3 (64%) mothers were born in Australia. Of those mothers who were not born in Australia, the most common countries of birth were India (5.6%), China (2.7%) and New Zealand (2.7%).  

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.