Birth statistics study

Feedback updated 24 Sep 2025

We asked

We are transforming some of our birth and labour statistics, so they are more coherent, efficient, and better meet user needs. This follows the Health and Social Care Statistical Outputs consultation commissioned by the Health and Social Care Statistics Leadership Forum. To supplement these results with views from members of the public, we asked which births statistics are important and interesting for them.

You said

We received 151 responses to the first part of the survey and 133 responses to the second part.

Percentages and proportions below refer to the number of participants that answered the question.

The majority of participants (60.5%) have previously looked for information about birth labour or pregnancy on any of the topics mentioned in this survey. Out of those, 47% reported it was either very or quite difficult to find the statistics compared to 29% saying it was very or quite easy.

Over half of respondents (55.6%) were mothers or prospective mothers. The remaining participants included healthcare professionals or those working with pregnant women (15.3%), researchers or analysts (11.3%) and fathers or partners (4.8%).

Table 1. Percentage or ratings for each topic – all participants

Topic	Very interested	Quite interested	Neutral	Not very interested	Very uninterested
Percentage of mothers dying due to pregnancy or childbirth	64.9	22.5	9.3	1.3	2.0
How often birth place changed due to staffing issues or unavailable services	52.3	23.2	19.9	4.0	0.7
Percentage of babies admitted to neonatal intensive care	50.7	31.3	14.0	2.0	2.0
Percentage of births at home or in a midwife led unit or in hospital	47.7	38.4	9.9	3.3	0.7
Percentage caesareans	45.0	29.1	19.2	4.6	2.0
Percentage of inductions or spontaneous births or planned caesareans	40.7	37.3	13.3	7.3	1.3
Percentage of instrumental delivery (forceps or ventouse used)	38.0	30.0	21.3	8.0	2.7
Percentage of births by week of pregnancy	35.3	29.3	26.0	7.3	2.0
Average length of hospital stay for the mother	33.8	37.1	21.2	7.3	0.7
Percentage of mothers that had postpartum haemorrhage	32.5	29.8	27.8	6.6	3.3
Average length of labour	31.8	40.4	15.2	10.6	2.0
Percentage of spontaneous births by week of pregnancy	31.8	35.8	21.2	11.3	0.0
Percentage of mothers that had vaginal tearing	31.1	29.1	27.8	9.3	2.6
Percentage of transfers to hospital from home or midwife led unit	27.3	42.7	21.3	6.0	2.7
Percentage of births taking place in water	18.5	23.8	32.5	19.2	6.0

Table 2. Percentage or ratings for each topic – mothers or prospective mothers

Topic	Very interested	Quite interested	Neutral	Not very interested	Very uninterested
Percentage of mothers dying due to pregnancy or childbirth	52.2	31.3	10.4	1.5	4.5
How often birth place changed due to staffing issues or unavailable services	49.3	26.9	17.9	4.5	1.5
Percentage caesareans	47.8	29.9	16.4	4.5	1.5
Percentage of births at home or in a midwife led unit or hospital	46.3	40.3	9.0	4.5	0.0
Percentage of inductions or spontaneous births or planned caesareans	44.8	35.8	9.0	9.0	1.5
Percentage of babies admitted to neonatal intensive care	41.8	32.8	20.9	1.5	3.0
Average length of labour	40.3	31.3	11.9	11.9	4.5
Average length of hospital stay for the mother	38.8	32.8	17.9	10.4	0.0
Percentage of instrumental delivery (forceps or ventouse used)	38.8	31.3	16.4	10.4	3.0
Percentage of births by week of pregnancy	38.8	23.9	26.9	7.5	3.0
Percentage of mothers that had vaginal tearing	35.8	31.3	19.4	9.0	4.5
Percentage of spontaneous births by week of pregnancy	34.3	38.8	17.9	9.0	0.0
Percentage of transfers to hospital from home or midwife led unit	29.9	37.3	23.9	6.0	3.0
Percentage of mothers that had postpartum haemorrhage	28.4	34.3	23.9	9.0	4.5
Percentage of births taking place in water	17.9	23.9	28.4	22.4	7.5

Table 3. Percentage or ratings for each characteristic – all participants

Characteristic	Very interested	Quite interested	Neutral	Not very interested	Very uninterested
Mother's age	54.3	34.1	9.3	0.8	1.6
Level of deprivation of the area where mother lives	49.6	26.4	18.6	4.7	0.8
Father’s age	39.7	22.1	21.4	14.5	2.3
Mother’s ethnicity	39.5	27.9	18.6	10.9	3.1
Week of pregnancy (gestation)	38.0	31.8	23.3	6.2	0.8
Individual hospitals	36.2	24.6	26.2	8.5	4.6
Baby’s weight at birth	35.7	34.9	24.8	3.9	0.8
Number of previous miscarriages or stillbirths	34.9	38.0	19.4	6.2	1.6
NHS trust	33.3	34.1	23.3	7.8	1.6
Father’s occupation and employment status	33.1	21.5	25.4	14.6	5.4
Mother’s occupation and employment status	30.0	35.4	21.5	9.2	3.8
Pregnancy classed as low versus high risk	29.5	41.9	20.2	7.0	1.6
Single or multiple pregnancy	29.5	34.9	23.3	8.5	3.9
Local authorities	25.6	39.5	21.7	10.1	3.1
Planned place of labour (home, midwife led unit or hospital)	25.6	38.8	24.0	9.3	2.3
Number of previous children	25.4	40.8	27.7	3.8	2.3

Table 4. Percentage or ratings for each characteristic – mothers or prospective mothers

Characteristic	Very interested	Quite interested	Neutral	Not very interested	Very uninterested
Mother's age	52.2	34.8	10.1	1.4	1.4
Individual hospitals	49.3	15.9	18.8	11.6	4.3
Week of pregnancy (gestation)	44.9	27.5	23.2	4.3	0.0
NHS trust	40.6	31.9	15.9	10.1	1.4
Level of deprivation of the area where mother lives	40.6	24.6	24.6	8.7	1.4
Baby’s weight at birth	37.7	31.9	23.2	7.2	0.0
Pregnancy classed as low versus high risk	36.2	33.3	18.8	10.1	1.4
Number of previous miscarriages or stillbirths	34.8	34.8	18.8	8.7	2.9
Planned place of labour (home, midwife led unit or hospital)	34.8	31.9	18.8	13.0	1.4
Mother’s ethnicity	33.3	31.9	14.5	17.4	2.9
Single or multiple pregnancy	30.4	34.8	23.2	8.7	2.9
Mother’s occupation and employment status	24.6	36.2	23.2	13.0	2.9
Local authorities	23.2	34.8	24.6	13.0	4.3
Number of previous children	21.7	40.6	30.4	7.2	0.0
Father’s age	21.7	26.1	30.4	20.3	1.4
Time period since previous pregnancy	15.9	44.9	27.5	5.8	5.8

Participants were asked if there is anything else they would like to say about birth statistics and how they have used them. The following themes emerged from the answers.

First, the need for more accessible and reliable data. Several respondents mentioned the difficulty in finding good quality statistics and the need for data to be more easily found and user-friendly.

Second, the importance of birth statistics in decision-making. Many respondents mentioned the importance of accurate data in making informed decisions about birth and care, and in supporting discussions with health professionals.

Participants have also mentioned interest in the following: birth and postnatal care; pain relief during labour and birth; continuity of care and satisfaction with care; birth outcomes and complications; breastfeeding and postnatal care; the presence and involvement of fathers during labour and more information about characteristics of fathers.

We did

We combined our Births in England and Wales and Birth Characteristics in England and Wales bulletins. This was done to improve coherence and efficiency of our statistical outputs. While streamlining the production of these birth statistics, we made sure that all the topics and characteristics that were reported as interesting by users in this survey are continued to be published in the new versions of our datasets.

We introduced additional and more granular age breakdowns for numbers of births by gestational age and number of previous live-born children into our Births in England and Wales: linked births dataset. Previously it has been published for mothers aged under 25, 25 to 34 and 35 and over, now it is produced by 5-year age bands. Additionally, in the same table we produced more granular breakdown by the number of previous live-born children. It used to be produced for either 0 or 1 or more previous live-born children and now it includes, 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 or more previous live-born children.

Currently, we are exploring the possibility of supplementing our core births registrations and notifications statistics with NHS maternity data to better meet user needs highlighted in this survey.

Overview

The Office for National Statistics produces an annual summary of statistics on Births in England and Wales. This includes live births, stillbirths and fertility rates.

We are currently reviewing our birth statistics and we would like to hear from a range of users to inform our plans. If you or your partner are pregnant, have been pregnant before, or have given birth, we'd like to hear from you through our survey.

It takes under 15 minutes to complete. Your feedback can help shape the birth statistics we produce in the future, to better meet your needs. The survey will close on 31 August 2024.

Please be aware that this survey contains sensitive content and questions on a range of pregnancy and birth areas. Your participation is completely voluntary, and if you're not comfortable with the content you may choose not to participate or withdraw from the survey at any time. Your responses are anonymous.

Audiences

Health professionals
Researchers
Statisticians

Interests

Health
Surveys

Contact