Summary

Australia’s mothers and babies 2016: in brief presents an overview of the key statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) National Perinatal Data Collection.

The AIHW’s online perinatal data visualisation complements this report.

Detailed data tables, including state and territory data, are also available.

This report and the perinatal data visualisations are part of a comprehensive program of AIHW work in relation to maternal and perinatal care and outcomes. Other major projects include:

  • National Core Maternity Indicators (NCMIs) data visualisations. The NCMIs monitor the safety and quality of maternity care to ensure there is continual improvement following the introduction of the National Maternity Services Plan (AHMC 2011)
  • National Maternity Data Development Project (NMDDP). The NMDDP aims to build a more comprehensive and consistent national data collection for maternal and perinatal health, including development of clinical data items and maternity models of care and the establishment of ongoing national maternal and perinatal mortality data collection and reporting
  • geographic reporting of maternal and perinatal indicators from the Performance Accountability Framework, latest report available at MyHealthyCommunities: Child and maternal health in 2013–2015. This publication presents detailed geographic data for indicators on antenatal care in the first trimester, smoking during pregnancy and low birthweight.