Birth weight up, drinking down
March 4, 2013
THE average birthweight of
Australian babies has risen, whilst
the nation has also seen drops in
maternal drinking and smoking, as
well as increases in the proportion
of mothers with health
assessments and care plans,
according to the latest report from
the Australian Institute of Health
and Welfare (AIHW).
The report, Healthy for Life:
results for July 2007- June 2011,
presents information from services
funded as part of the Healthy for
Life program which focuses on
improving maternal and child
health care and improving
prevention, early detection and
management of chronic disease.
The services are located across all
geographical areas of Australia, and
provide over 1.1 million episodes of
care to 180,000 clients.
According to the report, the
proportion of babies with normal
birthweight rose from 80% to
84.2%, while babies with low
birthweight dropped from 15.2% to
13.5% between 2008 and 2011 and
average birthweight rose from
3,015 grams to 3,131 grams.
In addition, alcohol was
consumed by 17.9% of women in
the third trimester of pregnancy in
2011-a drop from 21.4% since
2008, whilst there was a very small
drop in the proportion who smoked
during the third trimester of
pregnancy-from 53.4% to 52.4%.
The report also noted increases in
accessing medical care and
adoption of good health
management practices, including
the proportions of people with
chronic diseases such as diabetes
and coronary heart disease who
had a GP management plan as part
of their treatment.
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