The FINANCIAL -- Australian women continue to wait longer to have children, with the
average maternal age reaching 30.0 years in 2009, according to a report
released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
The report, Australia’s mothers and babies 2009, shows that the average age of women who gave birth in Australia has increased steadily from 29.0 years in 2000 to reach 30.0 years in 2009.The number of first-time mothers aged over 35 also increased—from 10.3% in 2000 to 13.7% in 2009.
Indigenous mothers are younger than non-Indigenous mothers—their average age was 25.3.
Nationally, the proportion of teenage mothers remained steady at 4.0% in 2009 compared with 4.2% in 2008, which was less than the 5.0% proportion in 2000.
The report shows that 294,540 women gave birth to 299,220 babies in Australia in 2009—a 0.8% increase in the total number of births compared to the previous year and a 16.3% increase on the total number in 2000. The number of births has been increasing since 2001, when the lowest number of births during the past decade was reported.
Overall, 6.2% of liveborn babies were of low birthweight and this nearly doubled among mothers who smoked during pregnancy.
Smoking while pregnant was reported by 14.5% of all mothers, by 37.0% of teenage mothers and almost half of Indigenous mothers.
In 2009, 863 women had a homebirth, representing 0.3% of all women who gave birth.
In the four jurisdictions where data on assisted reproductive technology or IVF were available, 3.6% of women who gave birth received ART treatment.
The AIHW is a major national agency set up by the Australian Government to provide reliable, regular and relevant information and statistics on Australia’s health and welfare.
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