Report on Perinatal Statistics for 2003

30/01/2007

Embargo: Tuesday 30 January 2007 at 00.01am

HIPE & NPRS Unit, The Economic & Social Research Institute
[HIPE:Hospital In-Patient Enquiry; NPRS: National Perinatal Reporting System]

This report presents information reported to the National Perinatal Reporting System (NPRS) on pregnancy outcomes, together with descriptive social and biological characteristics of mothers giving birth and babies born in Ireland in 2003.

• 61,989 births were notified to the NPRS in 2003. This represents a 2% increase in births for 2003 compared with 2002.
• The estimated birth rate of 15.5 per 1,000 population in 2003 represents an overall increase of 8% in the birth rate of 14.4 per 1,000 population reported in 1999.
• The Perinatal Mortality Rate for 2003 is estimated at 8.6 per 1,000 live and still births which is an increase of 0.4 per 1,000 live and still births since 1999.  The Early Neonatal Death Rate of 2.9 per 1,000 live births in 2003 is unchanged from 1999 and the Stillbirth Rate of 5.3 per 1,000 live and still births in 1999 increased to 5.8 per 1,000 live and still births in 2003.
• Delivery by Caesarean Section accounts for 24% of all births in 2003.  This compares to a Caesarean Section rate of 20% in 1999 and 22% in 2002.
• The average birth weight of babies born in 2003 is estimated at 3,471g. Low birthweight babies (weighing less than 2,500g) represented just over 5% of all births in 2003, which is unchanged from that reported in 1999.
• The Twinning Rate for 2003 is estimated at 14.3 per 1,000 maternities, as there were 873 twin births and 26 triplet births.
• In 2003, as in each year since 1999, single mothers accounted for 30% of all women giving birth.  The average age of single mothers in 2003 was 26 years compared with an average age of 24 years in 1999.  The average age of all mothers was 30 years and average maternal parity was 1.1 in 2003.
• The breastfeeding rate in 2003 is estimated at 41%, which is similar to that reported for 2002.  However, this represents an increase in the rate of 36% reported for 1999.
• There were 236 home births attended by independent domiciliary midwives in 2003 compared with 288 in 2002 and 246 such births in 1999.
• The proportion of early neonatal deaths undergoing post-mortem examinations fell from 73.8 per cent in 1992 to a low of 33.6 per cent in 2001.  This rate remained stable at 42% in 2002 and 2003.

For further information contact:
Sheelagh Bonham (ESRI) @ 8632086 (office) or
Professor Miriam Wiley (ESRI) @ 8632073 (office).