新西兰英语 03 Birth Statistics

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Mothers and babies have been in the news this last week. First, Statistics New Zealand announced a slight increase in the birth rate and secondly the Capital and Coast District Health Board (which has hospitals in the Wellington area) is worried about a shortage of midwives to deliver babies.

The number of births in New Zealand for the year to September 2007 was 62,360 which is the highest number since 1972. This brings the birth rate to just over 2.1 births for every woman in New Zealand. For the last 20 years, the birth rate has been about the same at about 2 babies for every woman. Compare this with 20 years after the Second World War when the birth rate was 3.8. This reached a peak of 4.3 in 1961.

Other countries with low birth rates have also had recent increases. Australia for instance was up to 1.8 last year from 1.7 in 2001.

The average age of women having their first baby is 28. The median age (half younger and half older) for women having babies is 30.

Nearly a quarter of the babies were from mixed ethnic parents especially Maori and Pacific Island babies. Maori women had more babies than women from other ethnic groups – 2.87.

Life expectancy for a new-born girl is 81.9 years and for a boy, 77.9 years.

The other item of news concerning babies is about the shortage of midwives in the Wellington area. Most women choose to have a midwife to look after them while they are pregnant, when they deliver their baby and to help them in the first few weeks with their new born baby. This has changed in the last 20 years when obstetricians (specialist doctors) and GPs used to deliver most babies. Many GPs have given up this work. Babies often come in the middle of the night which makes it difficult for GPs to do their usual work. Obstetricians are still necessary for difficult births; older mothers mean more difficult births. However, midwives deliver most babies but not so many women are choosing to be midwives these days. This is causing a big problem in hospitals.

The Capital and Coast District Health Board at first planned to give $100 grocery vouchers to women who left hospital 6 hours after a normal birth in December and January but midwives were angry at this idea. They said it would put mothers and babies at risk. The Hospital Board dropped the plan.