Report on Maternity 2017

Summary

This report describes:

• the demographic profile of women giving birth (eg, age, ethnicity, deprivation) and selected antenatal factors (eg, BMI, smoking)
• events relating to labour and birth (eg, type of birth, interventions, place of birth)
• the demographic profile of live-born babies, their birthweight and gestation and care provided after birth.

Download the report and its accompanying data tables:

• Report on Maternity 2017 (Word, 11 MB), (PDF, 3.8 MB)
• Report on Maternity 2017 – tables (XLSX, 348 KB)

Key findings about births in 2017

• 59,661 women gave birth and 60,026 babies were live-born.
• The birth rate in 2017 was 61.7 per 1,000 females of reproductive age; the lowest in the last 10 years.
• Birth rates for young women have decreased over the last decade while birth rates for older women have increased.
• Women giving birth were predominantly European, aged 25–34 years, residing in more deprived neighbourhoods, and had given birth at least once before.
• Most women received primary maternity care from a midwife Lead Maternity Carer.
• Over two-thirds of women who registered with a Lead Maternity Carer did so within their first trimester of pregnancy; an increase from 2008 when half registered within the first trimester.
• Most women gave birth at a secondary or tertiary maternity facility.
• Home births were more common among Māori and European women.
• Elective caesarean section rates have increased.
• One in every three women giving birth had a normal birth.
• More babies were male than female.
• Compared to previous years, there was little change in average birthweight.
• Median gestation at birth was 39 weeks.
• Most babies were exclusively or fully breastfed.