Publication, Part of NHS Maternity Statistics
NHS Maternity Statistics, England - 2021-22
Official statistics
Corrections made to national and provider HES data
Corrections have been made to the following files:
- Summary Report Tables, percentage of deliveries by duration of postnatal stay, Table 7.
- HES NHS Maternity Statistics Tables, number of deliveries where antenatal and postnatal length of stay is unknown. Tables 1.f, 1.g, 2.b; 3.d; 4.d; 5.c and 5.d and aligning time series percentages in Table 1.i to previously published figures.
- HES Provider Level Analysis: Caesarean with postnatal stay 0-3 days, Table G and related columns in the MPDP Flat File tab.
The chart and commentary figures in the 'Method of delivery, and postnatal stay' on the 'Deliveries in 2021-22' page have also been updated.
13 February 2025 17:10 PM
Deliveries over time
This section reports on the number of reported deliveries. A delivery is the term used in HES data to describe child birth and is the ending of a pregnancy by one or more babies leaving a woman's uterus by vaginal passage or caesarean section.
Within this section we explore the reported number of deliveries by women’s age group, type of delivery at both the onset and end of labour, and the frequency that anaesthetics and analgesics were administered either before or during delivery.
Percentages in the following commentary, unless otherwise stated, are based on total ‘knowns’, e.g. the percentage of caesareans is based on all deliveries with a known method of delivery, excluding those with an unknown method of delivery.
Summary of deliveries
The chart below shows how the number of deliveries has changed over the last 10 years.
There were 578,562 deliveries in NHS hospitals during 2021-22. This is an increase of 3.4 per cent from 2020-21.
Over the past ten years the numbers of deliveries in NHS Hospitals fluctuated but are now close to their lowest reported level in this time. The only year with a lower number of deliveries than 2021-22 was 2020-21.
Deliveries by age group
When comparing deliveries by age group to a base year of 2011-12, deliveries for age groups of women aged 30 to 39 years has increased whilst those other age groups have declined. Women in the 30-39 age group had a percentage increase of 2 per cent in 2021-22 compared to 2011-12.
Deliveries amongst women aged under 20 have more than halved since 2011-12 with 13,104 deliveries in 2021-22.
Method of onset
Method of onset describes the means by which labour was initiated. Where this begins without pharmacological, mechanical, or operative intervention is said to be spontaneous.
Spontaneous method of onset is most common as a proportion of total deliveries but has decreased from 66 per cent in 2011-12 to 47 per cent in 2021-22.
Caesarean method of onset increased from 12 per cent to 20 per cent and induced method of onset from 22 per cent to 33 per cent in the period 2011-12 to 2021-22.
Last edited: 13 February 2025 5:10 pm