Infant death levels and the rate of women smoking during pregnancy is on the decline, new research from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reveals.
The report, child and maternal health 2013–2015, presents findings on four indicators measuring the health of babies and their mothers: infant and young child deaths, the rate of newborn babies who are of a low birth weight, mothers smoking during pregnancy, and mothers attending antenatal care services during the first trimester of their pregnancy.
But the study showed that despite generally positive results nationally, trends are not seen equally across Australia’s 31 Primary Health Network areas.
Metropolitan areas had a rate of almost four infant and young child deaths per 1000 births. The rate was about 1.4 times higher in regional areas with about 5 deaths per 1000 births.
