Perinatal Statistics Report 2006

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 2006.

• 65,810 births were notified to the NPRS in 2006. This represents a significant increase of 7% in births for 2006 compared with 2005.
• The estimated birth rate of 15.4 per 1,000 population in 2006 represents a return to the birth rates experienced in Ireland in 2002 and 2003. In 2006 Ireland continued to have the highest birth rate of any of the 27 EU countries.
• The Perinatal Mortality Rate for 2006 is estimated at 7.0 per 1,000 live and still births which is lower than that reported five years ago in 2002 (8.4 per 1,000 live births and stillbirths).The Early Neonatal Death Rate of 2.3 per 1,000 live births in 2006 is also lower than 2002 (2.8 per 1,000 live births) and the Stillbirth Rate of 4.7 per 1,000 live births and stillbirths in 2006 decreased from 5.6 per 1,000 live births and stillbirths in 2002.
• Delivery by Caesarean Section accounts for 25% of all births in 2006.This compares to a Caesarean Section rate of 26% in 2005 and 22% in 2002.
• The average birth weight of babies born in 2006 is estimated at 3,473g. Low birthweight babies (weighing less than 2,500g) represented 5% of all births in 2006, which is unchanged since 2002.
• The Twinning Rate for 2006 is estimated at 14.8 per 1,000 maternities, as there were 958 sets of twin births, 17 sets of triplet births and 1 set of quadruplet births.
• In 2006 single mothers accounted for 32% of all women giving birth, compared to 30% in 2002. The average age of single mothers in 2006 was almost 27 years.The average age of all mothers was 31 years and average maternal parity (number of previous live birth and stillbirths) was 1.0 in 2006.
• The breastfeeding rate in 2006 is estimated at 44%, which is similar to that reported for 2005.However, this represents an increase in the rate of 41% reported for 2002 and 36% reported for 1999.
• Just less than 1 in 5 births were to mothers from outside Ireland. Of these the greatest proportions of mothers were from Africa (4.0%) and the EU15 to EU25 Accession States (3.9%).
• There were 170 home births attended by independent domiciliary midwives in 2006 compared with 288 in 2002.
• The proportion of early neonatal deaths undergoing post-mortem examinations was estimated at 44.4 % in 1999.By 2005 this indicator had fallen to 24.4 %, while the estimate for 2006 is 26.8 %.