Highlights

  • In the period from 1994 to 1996, there were 22,996 confinements of Indigenous mothers resulting in the birth of 23,214 babies recorded in the State and Territory perinatal collections. These accounted for 3.0% of all mothers and births in Australia in those years.
  • Based on births recorded in the State and Territory perinatal collections, in 1996 the total fertility rate was 2.2 for Indigenous women and 1.8 for non-Indigenous women. Indigenous women began childbearing at younger ages, had higher birth rates in their teenage years and early twenties, and tended to have more children than non-Indigenous women.
  • Birth rates of teenage Indigenous women and those in their early 20s declined substantially between 1991 and 1996.
  • Most Indigenous mothers (98.0%) gave birth in hospitals; they were more likely to have their babies in smaller hospitals than non-Indigenous mothers.
  • Most Indigenous mothers (97.0%) gave birth in public accommodation in hospital.
  • The States and Territories reporting the greatest numbers of Indigenous mothers for the period 1994 to 1996 were Queensland (7,436), New South Wales (4,981), Western Australia (4,290), and the Northern Territory (3,674).
  • The average age of Indigenous mothers was 24.0 years, 4.6 years younger than the average of 28.6 years among non-Indigenous mothers for the 1994–1996 period. Almost one in four (23.1%) Indigenous mothers was a teenager, nearly five times higher than for non-Indigenous mothers (4.8%).
  • Caesarean rates for Indigenous mothers in public accommodation in hospital ranged from 12.2% for confinements of teenage mothers to 25.1% for mothers aged 35 years and older. The age-specific caesarean rates for Indigenous mothers were consistently higher than for non-Indigenous mothers.
  • The average length of antenatal stay in hospital was longer for Indigenous mothers than for non-Indigenous mothers.
  • The average postnatal stay for Indigenous mothers of 4.2 days was slightly shorter than the average of 4.5 days for non-Indigenous mothers. The postnatal length of stay for Indigenous mothers was on average half a day shorter than the 4.7 days reported in the 1991–1993 period.
  • The proportion of Indigenous babies having hospital stays of less than 3 days was 29.9%, almost double that of 17.6% for all other babies. The increasing trend towards early discharge is apparent in the six-year period.
  • The mean birthweight of babies born to Indigenous mothers was 3,149 g, 216 g less than the mean of 3,365 g for all other births. State and Territory differences in the mean birthweight of Indigenous babies were marked, ranging from 3,079 g in the Northern Territory and 3,111 g in Western Australia to 3,218 g in Victoria.
  • The proportion of low birthweight (less than 2,500 g) babies of Indigenous mothers (12.4%) was twice as high as for babies of non-Indigenous mothers (6.2%).
  • The fetal death rate among births to Indigenous mothers of 13.9 per 1,000 births was more than double that of 6.7 per 1,000 births for non-Indigenous births. There was little variation in rates for Queensland (15.5 per 1,000), the Northern Territory (14.8 per 1,000), South Australia (15.0 per 1,000) and Western Australia (15.0 per 1,000 births). Neonatal death rates of Indigenous babies were higher than for non-Indigenous babies in all States and Territories.
  • The proportion of Indigenous mothers who were teenagers varied by ATSIC region. There were also regional differences in the proportion of low birthweight babies, caesarean section rates and fetal death rates by ATSIC region.
  • The completeness and quality of information on Indigenous births can be improved by linking paternal information on Indigenous status currently recorded on birth registrations and on perinatal death registrations to the perinatal data collections.