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

In 2019, 298,567 women gave birth to 303,054 babies Almost 1 in 10 antenatal services processed for March to December 2020 were delivered via telehealth More than 90% of antenatal services claimed on the MBS were face-to-face consults Around 136,000 fewer face-to-face antenatal services were processed in 2020 compared with 2019 11% of women who gave birth in 2019 had gestational diabetes The decrease in face-to-face services was mostly offset by telehealth, contributing around 126,000 antenatal services In 2019, the stillbirth rate was 7.2 per 1,000 births 1 in 3 (36%) mothers had a caesarean section in 2019 There were slightly fewer antenatal services processed during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the same period in 2019 The birth rate has declined from 64.6 per 1,000 women in 2009 to 57.6 in 2019 44% of Indigenous mothers smoked during pregnancy in 2019 compared with 49% in 2010 77% of mothers received antenatal care in the first trimester in 2019 compared with 63% in 2010 6.6% of liveborn babies were low birthweight in 2019 Pregnancy-related ultrasounds increased by more than 10% in quarter 3 of 2020, compared to quarter 3 of 2019 Nationally, over 1.6 million MBS services for antenatal care were processed during 2020 Face-to-face antenatal services declined 15% in quarter 2 of 2020 compared with quarter 2 2019

Featured reports

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Highlights

30.7 yearsis the average age of women who gave birth
6 per 100,000was the maternal mortality ratio in 2017
Almost 1 in 100pregnancies at or beyond 20 weeks gestation ends with the death of a baby
1 in 8mothers had a second birth vaginally after having their first birth by caesarean section
1 in 3  (36%) mothers had a caesarean section in 2019
44% of Indigenous mothers smoked during pregnancy in 2019 compared with 49% in 2010
Congenital anomaliesare the most common cause of perinatal death
66% of Indigenous mothers attended an antenatal visit in the first trimester in 2018 compared with 50% in 2012