The Aboriginal status of babies is assigned according to how the mother identified her baby or herself during the birth admission. Babies born to Aboriginal mothers and babies identified as Aboriginal by their mothers are included as Aboriginal babies in this data.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are referred to as Aboriginal people in recognition that Aboriginal people are the original inhabitants of NSW.
Women who identify themselves as Aboriginal.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are referred to as Aboriginal people in recognition that Aboriginal people are the original inhabitants of NSW.
A numerical scoring system routinely administered 1 and 5 minutes after birth to evaluate the condition of the baby. The score ranges from 0 to 10. It takes account of five physical signs: heart rate, respiration, muscle tone, reflexes, and colour. Each is assigned a component score of 0, 1 or 2. A 5-minute Apgar score of 7 or above is considered normal.
Artificial rupture of the membranes or use of oxytocic drugs after spontaneous onset of labour.
The newborn baby’s first bare weight in grams.
Weight categories are assigned according to body mass index (BMI). BMI is a commonly used measure for monitoring rates of overweight and obesity in populations. It is calculated as the ratio of a person’s weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. In the NSW Perinatal Data Collection, weight is usually reported at the first comprehensive antenatal assessment; however, self-reported weight around the time of conception is acceptable if a measured weight is not available. The Perinatal Data Collection does not include information on whether the reported weight was measured or self-reported.
BMI classifications categorise adults as underweight (BMI below 18.5), healthy weight (BMI 18.5–24.9), overweight (BMI 25.0–29.9) and obese (BMI 30 or above).
Values of height, weight and BMI were excluded if they were outside the 1st and 99th percentile of the United States Centers for Disease Control Growth Charts for girls.1 For mothers aged over 18 years, the BMI score is classified using World Health Organization criteria.2 For mothers aged less than 18 years, modified BMI thresholds are used, as described by Cole et al.3,4 For more information see HealthStats NSW – Estimates of maternal overweight and obesity based on the NSW Perinatal Data Collection.
Infant feeding is reported via three tick-box categories: breastfeeding, expressed breast milk, and infant formula. More than one type of feeding may be reported by ticking multiple boxes. In this report, infant feeding is classified into three categories:
Birth of the fetus through an abdominal incision.
Refers to a woman having given birth. In a multiple pregnancy, one confinement will result in more than one birth.
Injection of analgesic agent outside the dura mater which covers the spinal canal; includes lumbar, spinal, and epidural anaesthetics.
An incision of the perineum and vaginal wall to enlarge the birth passage.
The duration of pregnancy in completed weeks from the first day of the last normal menstrual period. Where accurate information on the date of the last menstrual period is not available or the menstrual period is not regular, a clinical estimate of gestational age may be obtained from other methods such as ultrasound during the first half of pregnancy. The “best estimate” is used in this report.
The category labour–spontaneous with oxytocics–prostaglandins was used where labour was augmented with artificial rupture of membranes as well as oxytocics or prostaglandins.
The complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a baby who, after being born, breathes or shows any evidence of life such as a heartbeat.
The maternity service capability levels for 2024 have been applied to the data in this report. These are explained in the NSW Health Guideline Maternity and Neonatal Service Capability (GL2022_022), which guides NSW local health districts in determining the service capability of their maternity and neonatal services.
For further information on role delineation levels for individual sites, please contact the relevant local health district.
The total number of live births and stillbirths of the mother before the pregnancy or birth under consideration.
This report includes stillbirths and neonatal deaths within the scope of the NSW Perinatal Data Collection (which includes births from 20 weeks gestation or babies of at least 400 grams birthweight), which includes some terminations of pregnancy.
The number of perinatal deaths (stillbirths and neonatal deaths) per 1,000 total births in a year (live births and stillbirths combined).
With the exception of reporting in the Maternal and perinatal deaths section, perinatal deaths in this report include deaths reported to the NSW Perinatal Data Collection only. As the Perinatal Data Collection record is completed at discharge or transfer of the baby, deaths occurring after this time are not reported to the NSW Perinatal Data Collection. Birth and perinatal death registration data held by the Australian Bureau of Statistics give the most complete overall ascertainment of perinatal deaths for calculation of rates.
The mother’s usual residence was the basis for coding to statistical areas of residence and NSW local health districts.
The number of fetuses in utero at 20 weeks gestation that are subsequently born separately. On this basis a pregnancy may be classified as single or multiple.
A baby born before 37 completed weeks gestation.
Small for gestational age is defined as a birthweight below the 10th percentile for liveborn singleton babies of the same gestational age and sex as defined by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's birthweight percentile table.5 This data is only available for gestational ages between 20 and 44 weeks and does not include babies with an indeterminate sex.
A baby born at 37 or more completed weeks gestation.
The “vaginal breech” category covers all forms of vaginal breech birth, including forceps to the after-coming head.