Report on Perinatal Statistics for 2002

January 24, 2006

News

24/01/2006

 

Report on Perinatal Statistics for 2002

Embargo: 00.01 a.m. Tuesday 24 January 2006 HIPE & NPRS Unit, The Economic & Social Research Institiute

[HIPE:Hospital In-Patient Enquiry; NPRS: National Perinatal Reporting System]



This report presents information reported to the National Perinatal Reporting System (NPRS) on pregnancy outcomes, together with descriptive social and biological characteristics of mothers giving birth and babies born in Ireland in 2002.

 

 

  • 60,865 births were notified to the NPRS in 2002. This represents a 5% increase in births for 2002 compared with 2001.
  • The estimated birth rate of 15.5 per 1,000 population in 2002 represents an increase in the birth rate of around 3% since 2001 and over 23% since 1993.
  • Between 1993-2002, the Perinatal Mortality Rate decreased by 3.4 %, the Early Neonatal Death Rate fell by 6.7 %, and the reduction in the Stillbirth Rate was close to 2%.
  • Delivery by Caesarean Section now accounts for 22.4 % of all births, representing a 72% increase on all births delivered by caesarean section since 1993 and a 2% increase since 2001.
  • The average birth weight of babies born in 2002 is estimated at 3,474g. Low birthweight babies (weighing less than 2,500g) represented almost 5% of all births in 2002 compared with close to 4% in 1993.
  • The Twinning Rate for 2002 is estimated at 14.4 per 1,000 maternities, as there were 864 twin births, 18 triplet births and 3 quadruplet births.
  • In 2002, as in 2001, single mothers accounted for 30 % of all women giving birth, representing an increase of 65.4% in the estimated rate of 18.1 % in 1993. The average age of single mothers in 2002 was 26 years compared with an average age of 23 years in 1993. Average age of all mothers and average maternal parity for 2002 at 30 years and 1.1, respectively, is the same as that reported for 2001. Average maternal parity has declined from 1.3 in 1993.
  • The trend in the breastfeeding rate continues to be upward at 41.1 % in 2002 compared to 33.9 % in 1993.
  • There were 288 home births attended by independent domiciliary midwives in 2002 compared with 245 in 2001 and 142 such births in 1993.
  • For the first time this decade, the percentage of early neonatal deaths undergoing post-mortem examinations has increased. This rate, 42.1 %, has increased by 25.4 % between 2001 and 2002 alone. Over the past decade the overall rate for post-mortems has decreased by 36.9 % from the 1993 rate of 66.7 %.