Indigenous mothers and their babies, Australia 2001-2004
Indigenous mothers and their babies, Australia 2001-2004 provides information on births to Indigneous mothers in Australia from perinatal data collections for each state and territory. The report presents demographic, pregnancy and childbirth factors of Indigenous women who gave birth in 2001-2004. This report also includes information on demographic and birth trends over the period 1991 to 2004 and a chapter on the quality of Indigenous status data in the state and territory perinatal data collections.
This report is produced by the AIHW National Perinatal Statistics Unit based at the University of New South Wales and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Welfare Unit. It will be particularly useful for researchers, policy makers, health service planners and those providing services in reproductive health.
Key findings
This is the third report published by the AIHW on Indigenous mothers and their babies in Australia. Data from the National Perinatal Data Collection are used to form the most recent picture of health and other outcomes for Indigenous mothers and their babies in Australia.
Between 2001 and 2004, 35,264 women who identified as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin gave birth to 35,682 babies—3.6% of all babies born to all women during this period.
Indigenous mothers
In 2001–2004, compared with non-Indigenous mothers, Indigenous mothers:
- were younger—mean age of 24.8 years compared with 29.7 years
- were less likely to be first-time mothers—30% compared with 42%
- were much less likely to give birth in private hospitals—3% compared with 32%
- had a higher proportion of spontaneous onset of labour—70% compared with 57%
- had a lower proportion of induced labours—17% compared with 26%
- were less likely to have a caesarean section—22% compared with 28%
- were three times as likely to have smoked during pregnancy—51% compared with 17%.
Babies born to Indigenous mothers
In 2001–2004, compared with babies born to non-Indigenous mothers, babies born to Indigenous mothers:
- were almost twice as likely to be born preterm—14% compared with 8%
- were twice as likely to be of low birthweight—13% compared with 6% of live births
- had a shorter median length of stay in hospital—3 days compared with 4 days
- had almost twice the fetal death rate—12 compared with 7 per 1,000 births
- had twice the neonatal death rate—6 compared with 3 per 1,000 live births.
What is changing over time for Indigenous mothers and their babies?
Over the period 1991–2004:
- There was a decrease in Indigenous teenage mothers from 10 to 8 per 100 women and an increase in the proportion of Indigenous mothers aged 35 years and over—from 1.4 to 2.3 per 100 women.
- The caesarean section rate increased from 20% to 26% among Indigenous women compared with an increase from 19% to 29% among non-Indigenous mothers.
- The proportion of low birthweight babies increased significantly for babies born to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous mothers. This increase was greater among babies born to Indigenous mothers—from 11% to 12% compared with from 2.5% to 2.6% for non-Indigenous mothers.
- The fetal death rate of babies born to Indigenous mothers declined significantly from 16 to 11 per 1,000 births, and remained stable among babies born to non-Indigenous mothers at around 6 per 1,000 births.
Indigenous status data quality
Results of the assessment of the quality of Indigenous status in perinatal data in each state and territory over the period 1991–2004 showed that:
- data from New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory are suitable for trends analysis from 1991 onwards
- data from the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania are not considered stable enough to be included in trends analyses mainly because of small population size and some issues with data quality over the reporting period.