Australian babies
March 7, 2013
A NEW maternity indicators
report released today by the
Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare has found that the
proportion of babies born weighing
less than 2,750 grams at or after 40
weeks fell from 2.1% to 1.8%
between 2004 and 2009.
Titled National Core Maternity
Indicators, the report includes data
for 2004 through to 2009 across 10
clinical indicators, including rates of
caesarean section, induction of
labour and small babies born at or
after term.
The report will act as a baseline
for measuring the effects of
changes in the quality of maternity
services across Australia following
the introduction of the 2010-2015
National Maternity Services Plan in
2010.
“Some good news is that we have
seen a higher proportion of women
(80%) attending antenatal care
during the first trimester, and a
drop in the proportion of babies
born weighing less than 2,750
grams at or after 40 weeks,” said
Professor Elizabeth Sullivan from
the AIHW's National Perinatal
Epidemiology and Statistics Unit.
“Rates of smoking in pregnancy in
Australia also dropped-from 16.7%
to 14.5% between 2004 and 2009,”
Sullivan added.
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