Number of deliveries, births on the decline

The total number of deliveries and births has declined over the last seven years.

Over the period 1995 to 2001, the total number of deliveries and births declined by 1,123 and 1,162 respectively, according to a report by Lina Janulova from the National Obstetric Information System.

In 1995 the distribution of public and private deliveries stood at 95 per cent and five per cent respectively. Over the next three years (1996 to 1998) there was a two per cent shift in the rates of distribution of deliveries. Since 1999 the rate of distribution of deliveries has remained the same.

The mean age of delivery for years 1999, 2000 and 2001 are 28.11, 28.05 and 27.85 years respectively.

When analysing maternal age for the years 1999 to 2001, one can see that the rate of teenage delivery has gone up from 5.5 per cent in 1999, to 5.7 per cent in 2000 and to 6.3 per cent in 2001.

The number of deliveries to teenage mothers, shows that deliveries to `less than 15 year olds` have decreased by half, while the deliveries to `15 and 16 year olds` are on the increase.

In 2001, there were a total of 3,918 deliveries registered in the Maltese islands, which resulted in a total of 3,955 births.

Comparison of these figures to the same period last year shows that the number of deliveries and, consequently, births decreased by 393 and 422 respectively.