Publication, Part of Maternity Services Monthly Statistics
Maternity Services Monthly Statistics, Final April 2023, Provisional May 2023, experimental statistics
Official statistics
Introduction of Provisional data
This is the second publication of Maternity Services Monthly Statistics to include provisional data, in addition to the final data reported in this publication series. Therefore, this publication includes three CSV files for provisional May 2023 data in addition to three CSV files of final April 2023 data. Provisional data is also included in the National Maternity Dashboard. However, counts of babies that were fully or partially breastfed at 6 to 8 weeks old (CQIMBreastfeeding6to8Weeks) are not available in the provisional data files or dashboard data, as this relies upon information from the Community Services Dataset (CSDS) which is not available within the required timeframe.
More information about this change to the publication can be found in the previous Maternity Services Monthly Statistics, Final March 2023, Provisional April 2023 publication.
29 June 2023 09:30 AM
Babies
Birth Weight
Where birth weight is recorded, 4% of term babies had a birth weight of less than 2,500 grams.
The World Health Organisation defines low birth weight as less than 2,500g.
Skin-to-skin contact
It is recommended that mothers have skin-to-skin contact with their babies after birth to promote the initiation of breastfeeding and protect against the negative effects of mother-baby separation. The MSDS receives data on whether a mother had skin-to-skin contact with their baby within one hour of birth.
Babies' first feed
Breastfeeding contributes to the health of both the mother and child in the short and longer term and it is recommended that women should be made aware of these benefits. The MSDS records whether a baby's first feed was maternal breast milk, donor breast milk or not breast milk.
Administrative Sources
Maternity Services Data Set (MSDS): this is a patient-level data set that captures information about activity carried out by Maternity Services relating to a mother and baby(s), from the point of the first booking appointment until mother and baby(s) are discharged from maternity services. This is a secondary uses data set, which re-uses clinical and operational data for purposes other than direct patient care.
Last edited: 27 July 2023 9:55 am