Birthing mothers opt for short hospital stays
21 February 2001
More Australian mothers are leaving hospital earlier after childbirth than in previous years, according to a report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The report, Australia’s Mothers and Babies 1998, showed that the proportion of mothers staying less than 2 days was more than 10 per cent, up from just over 3 per cent 7 years earlier. Those staying between 2 and 4 days also increased, from 35 per cent to 53 per cent.
However, mothers staying 5 or more days dropped from 62 per cent to 38 per cent over the same period.
Dr Paul Lancaster, Head of the AIHW National Perinatal Statistics Unit, said factors associated with the shorter stays included younger maternal age, previous births, indigenous status, spontaneous (not induced) delivery, maternity units of medium size and public status in hospital.
‘When you look at the various factors, mothers admitted to hospital as public patients were much more likely to have shorter stays than those admitted as private patients,’ Dr Lancaster said.
‘Almost 78 per cent of mothers with public status stayed for less than 5 days, while only 33 per cent of mothers with private status did.
‘The differences in stay between public and private were consistent across all ages, number of previous births, indigenous status, type of delivery and size of hospital,’ he added.
Other findings
Australia’s Mothers and Babies 1998 presents data collected from the 255,522 births that were notified to State and Territory perinatal data collections in that year. Here are some of the findings.
- More than one in 5 births (21.1 per cent) were by Caesarean section; South Australia had the highest Caesarean rate (23.9 per cent) and the ACT the lowest (18.8 per cent); Caesarean rates were higher among older mothers, those having their first baby, and those admitted as private patients.
- The upward trend in multiple pregnancies continued to a new peak of 1.5 per cent of all mothers.
- About one in 11 mothers had their first baby at age 35 years or older; the average age for first-time mothers in 1998 was 27 years—continuing the upward trend in recent years.
- More than 5 per cent (12,920) of new mothers were teenagers; of these, 4088 were 17 years or younger.
- The average age of all mothers in 1998 was 28.9 years; among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers it was 24.7 years, and for this group there was a high proportion of teenage mothers (21.3 per cent).
Last Reviewed: 23 February 2001
