Maternal characteristics

Key demographics

This section presents data on maternal and medical characteristics, as supplied to the National Perinatal Data Collection (NPDC), which have been commonly associated with stillbirth or neonatal death.

While these characteristics are more commonly found in women with pregnancies resulting in stillbirth and neonatal death, they are characteristics that are numerically associated with perinatal death and it is not implied that they are the cause of perinatal deaths.

In 2018, there were:

  • 9.2 perinatal deaths per 1,000 births (2,789 deaths) 
  • 7.0 stillbirths per 1,000 births (2,115 deaths)
  • 2.2 neonatal deaths per 1,000 live births (674 deaths).

Perinatal mortality rates were higher among babies born to:

  • women who were aged under 20, 20-24 and 40 and over
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women
  • women who lived in Very remote areas
  • women living in the most disadvantaged areas of Australia (quintiles 1 and 2).

Chart title: Perinatal mortality rates, by maternal characteristics, 2018

The horizontal bar charts in this data visualisation display the rate of stillbirths and neonatal deaths by different maternal demographic characteristics. The first view shows the difference in rates by state or territory of birth. The rate of stillbirths ranged between 6.0 deaths per 1,000 births in Queensland to 11.9 deaths per 1,000 births in the Northern Territory. The neonatal death rates ranged from 1.7 per 1,000 live births in Western Australian to 5.1 per 1,000 live births in the Northern Territory.

The difference in rates by remoteness shows that rates of stillbirth and neonatal death increase with increasing remoteness. The rate of stillbirths increased from 8.5 deaths per 1,000 births in Major cities to 14.8 deaths per 1,000 births in Very remote areas. The rate of neonatal death increased from 2.9 per 1,000 live births in Major cities to 6.7 per 1,000 live births in Very remote areas.

The difference in rates by mother’s country of birth shows that rates of stillbirth and neonatal death are similar for mothers born in Australia or born overseas. The rate of stillbirths was 6.7 deaths per 1,000 births for mothers born in Australia and 7.3 deaths per 1,000 births for mothers born overseas. The rate of neonatal death was 2.1 deaths per 1,000 live births for mothers born in Australia and 2.4 deaths per 1,000 live births for mothers born overseas

The difference in rates by mother’s Indigenous shows that rates of stillbirth and neonatal death are higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers. The rate of stillbirths was 11.5 deaths per 1,000 births for Indigenous mothers and 6.7 deaths per 1,000 births for non-Indigenous mothers. The rate of neonatal death was 4.8 deaths per 1,000 live births for Indigenous mothers and 2.1 deaths per 1,000 live births for non-Indigenous mothers.

The difference in rates by socioeconomic status shows that rates of stillbirth and neonatal death increase with increasing disadvantage. The rate of stillbirths increased from 7.5 deaths per 1,000 births in the least disadvantaged areas of Australia to 11.3 deaths per 1,000 births in the most disadvantaged areas. The rate of neonatal death increased from 1.8 per 1,000 live births in the least disadvantaged areas of Australia to 4.3 per 1,000 live births in the most disadvantaged areas.

The difference in rates by maternal age group shows that rates of stillbirth and neonatal death are highest for the youngest and oldest mothers.  The rate of stillbirths was highest for mothers under 20, 16.2 per 1,000 births, followed by mothers aged 40 or over, 9.2 stillbirths per 1,000 births.  The rate of neonatal death was highest for mothers under 20, 3.7 per 1,000 live births, followed by mothers aged 20-24 and mothers aged 40 or over, 2.7 per 1,000 live births.

The underlying data for this data visualization are also available in the Excel spreadsheet located on the Data page.

For 2017 and 2018, NSW perinatal mortality data were not available at the time of production for this report. Where possible in this report, preliminary perinatal deaths data for NSW for 2017 and 2018 supplied to the National Perinatal Data Collection have been used.

Country of birth

There was little overall difference in perinatal mortality rates for babies of women born in Australia compared to babies of women born overseas. The highest rates of perinatal death were among babies of mothers whose country of birth was in:

  • Melanesia (including Papua New Guinea)
  • Central and West Africa
  • Southern Europe.

Detailed country of birth data can be found in the supplementary data tables.