Perinatal Statistics Report 2007

9/10/2009

Perinatal Statistics Report 2007

Health Research and Information Division, ESRI 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 2007.

• 71,963 births were notified to the NPRS in 2007. This represents a significant increase of over 9% in births for 2007 compared with 2006.
• The estimated birth rate of 16.5 per 1,000 population represents the highest birth rate of any of the 27 EU countries in 2007.
• The twinning rate for 2007 is estimated at 15.4 per 1,000 maternities, as there were 1,092 sets of twin births and 27 sets of triplets.
• The perinatal mortality rate was 7.3 per 1,000 live births and stillbirths; this rate was 7.1 for singleton births and 14.5 for multiple births. For the years 1999-2007 the highest perinatal mortality rate was 8.9 in 2000. The lowest recorded was 7.0 in 2006.
• 26% of total live births were delivered by Caesarean section. This rate was 25% for singletons and 64% for multiples. The Caesarean section rate for total live births was 20% in 1999.
• The average birth weight of babies born in 2007 is estimated at 3,465g. Low birthweight babies (weighing less than 2,500g) represented 5% of all births in 2007, which is unchanged since 1999. 6.1% were preterm (less than 37 weeks gestation), the highest reported since 1999 (5.7%)
• 45% of babies were breastfed at discharge from hospital, this compares to 41% in 2003 and 36% in 1999.
• The average age of women giving birth has steadily increased from 30.1 years in 1999 to 31.1 years in 2007.
• 27% of women giving birth were aged 35 years or older, up from 21% in 1999. 3.5% of women giving birth were aged 19 years or less, compared to 6.2 % in 1999.
• Average maternal parity (number of previous live births and stillbirths) was 1.0 in 2007.
• Of all women giving birth in 2007, 42% gave birth for the first time, with an average age of 28.8 years for first time mothers.
• Of all first deliveries, 14% were to women aged 35 years or older; this has been increasing each year and was recorded at 9% in 1999.
• In 2007 single mothers accounted for 32% of all women giving birth, compared to 30% in 2003 and 1999. The average age of single mothers in 2007 was over 27 years compared to almost 25 years in 1999.
• An estimated 1 in 5 births were to mothers from outside Ireland in 2007. This compares to 1 in 6 in 2004. In 2007, 7.2% of all births were to mothers from EU15 to EU27 Accession States, while mothers from Africa and Asia each accounted for 3.6% of all births.
• There were 186 home births attended by independent domiciliary midwives in 2007 compared with 170 in 2006.
• The proportion of early neonatal deaths undergoing post-mortem examinations was estimated at 44.4% in 1999. By 2005 this indicator had fallen to 24.4%, while the estimate for 2007 is 30.8 %.

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