30 years of reporting on Australia’s mothers and babies
The article was originally posted on LinkedIn by Deanna Eldridge, Head of the Perinatal Data Unit
Today’s release of ‘Australia’s mothers and babies’ marks a 30-year milestone of AIHW reporting on the health of mothers and babies in Australia. Congratulations to my team.
The report has a wealth of information on the characteristics and health of Australian mothers and their babies. The report reveals some positive trends, including that the proportion of women smoking at any time during pregnancy has fallen (from 14% in 2010 to 9.2% in 2020) and the proportion of women receiving antenatal care in the first trimester has risen (from 63% in 2010 to 79% in 2020).
The report also shows that:
- In 2020, there were 295,796 babies born to 291,712 mothers in Australia.
- The Australian birth rate is falling (from 66 per 1,000 in 2007 to 56 per 1,000 women in 2020).
- The average age of mothers is increasing (from 30.0 years in 2010 to 30.9 in 2020).
Check out this page for the report and interactive data visualisations: https://lnkd.in/gEz4Est2 #maternalhealth #perinatal #mothers #babies
