Births and pregnancy outcome

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Overview of the health of Indigenous people in Western Australia 2011    Introduction    Population structure    Births and pregnancy outcome    Mortality    Hospitalisation    Selected health conditions       Cardiovascular health       Cancer       Diabetes       Social and emotional wellbeing (including mental health)       Kidney health (renal disease)       Injury       Respiratory disease       Communicable diseases          Sexually transmitted infections          Hepatitis          HIV/AIDS          Other communicable diseases       Eye health       Ear health       Oral health    Health risk factors    Concluding comments

In 2009, there were 2,416 births registered in WA (1,236 males and 1,180 females) with one or both parents identified as Indigenous (7.8% of all births registered) [1]. (Implied coverage of Indigenous births in WA for 2002-2006 is estimated at 95% on 2001 Census-based projections). Both parents were identified as Indigenous in 46% of the 2,416 births, with only the mother in 33% (including births where paternity was not acknowledged – 14%), and only the father in 21% [1].

Age of mothers

In 2009, Indigenous women in WA tended to have more babies and to have them at younger ages than did non-Indigenous women [1]. The median age of Indigenous mothers was 24.5 years compared with 30.6 years for all mothers. In 2009, the highest age-specific fertility rates were for the 20-24 years age group for Indigenous women and in the 30-34 years age group for all women (Table 2). The fertility rate of Western Australian teenage Indigenous women (103 babies per 1,000 women) was more than four times that for all teenage women in WA (20 babies per 1,000 women).

Table 2: Age-specific fertility rates, by Indigenous status of mother, Western Australia and Australia, 2009

Age group	Western Australia		Australia
	Indigenous	All mothers	Indigenous	All mothers
Source: Derived from ABS, [1]. Notes: Rates per 1,000 women in each age group. Includes births to mothers aged less than 15 years. Includes births to mothers aged 50 years and over.
15-19	103	20	79	17
20-24	187	61	152	54
25-29	157	107	132	102
30-34	106	125	94	124
35-39	46	65	47	69
40-44	11	13	11	14
45-49	1	1	0	1

Total fertility rates

In 2009, the total fertility rate for Indigenous women living in WA was 3.06 births per 1,000 compared with 1.96 per 1,000 for all Western Australian women [1]. (The total fertility rate for Indigenous women in Australia was 2.58 births per 1,000 compared with 1.90 births per 1,000 for all Australian women.)

Method of birth

In 2008, Indigenous mothers in WA were more likely than non-Indigenous mothers to have a non-instrument vaginal (including breech) birth (70% compared with 52%) and less likely to have assisted instrumental vaginal deliveries (forceps or vacuum extraction) (6% compared with 14%) [2]. Indigenous mothers in WA also had a lower rate of caesarean section (24% compared with 34%).

Birthweights

In 2008, the average weight of babies born to Indigenous mothers living in WA was 3,113 grams, which is 243 grams lighter than the average for babies born to all Western Australian mothers, 3,357 grams [2]. Babies born to Indigenous women in WA in 2008 were more than twice as likely to be of low birthweight (LBW) than were those born to all women in WA (14.8% compared with 6.2%). (LBW, defined as a birthweight of less than 2,500 grams, increases the risk of illness and death in infancy and of other health problems).

Risk factors for LBW include socioeconomic disadvantage, the size and age of the mother, the number of babies previously born, the mother’s nutritional status, illness during pregnancy, the duration of the pregnancy, and mother’s alcohol consumption and use of tobacco and other drugs during pregnancy [2][3]. According to the WAACHS, infants born to mothers who used tobacco during pregnancy had a significantly lower average birth weight (3,110 grams) than did infants born to mothers who had not used tobacco during pregnancy (3,310 grams) [4]. Lowest average birthweights were for infants whose mothers used marijuana with tobacco (3,000 grams) or with both tobacco and alcohol (2,940 grams).

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (2010) Births, Australia, 2009. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics
2. Laws PJ, Li Z, Sullivan EA (2010) Australia's mothers and babies 2008. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
3. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2010) Australia's health 2010: the twelfth biennial report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
4. Zubrick SR, Lawrence DM, Silburn SR, Blair E, Milroy H, Wilkes T, Eades S, D'Antoine H, Read AW, Ishiguchi P, Doyle S (2004) The health of Aboriginal children and young people. Perth: Telethon Institute for Child Health Research