Overview

A newborn baby's health can be a key determinant of their health and wellbeing throughout life. Factors such as physical health, social wellbeing and exposure to harmful behaviours can influence health outcomes for both mothers and babies.

More reports and statistics on mothers & babies can be found under Children & youth and Men & women.

Latest findings

Diabetes affects nearly 1 in 10 pregnancies recorded on the National Perinatal Data Collection. 40,500 (8.9%) mothers had gestational diabetes and 4,700 (1.0%) mothers had pre-existing diabetes. Mothers with pre-existing diabetes and their babies were at highest risk of adverse effects. More than 45,000 mothers who gave birth in Australia (excluding Victoria) had diabetes in 2014–2015. Just over half of pregnant women exercised for fitness, usually walking Only 3 in 10 pregnant women met the Australian physical activity guideline Two-thirds of pregnant women were active for fewer than 150 minutes per week

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Highlights