21 March 2019
Births, fertility and breastfeeding 2018
Topics covered include: births and crude birth rate, over time; fertility rates (general, total, age-specific), over time; age of mothers, including teenage mothers; caesarean sections; birth weight; breastfeeding patterns (at discharge; at 6-8 weeks; at 9-12 months) and infant mortality
The report findings include:
- there were 942 live births notified in Jersey during 2018; this was the lowest number of births recorded since 2002
- the age group with the highest age-specific fertility rates (number of live births per 1,000 women of each age group) in Jersey was the cohort of women aged 30-34 years
- the proportion of births by caesarean section remained similar to previous years, and continued to be higher in Jersey (33%) than England (27%) ; older mothers were more likely to have an elective caesarean section
- 8% of newborns were classified as ’low’ birthweight, a similar rate when compared to England
- the proportion of mothers aged 35 and over in Jersey increased slightly from around a quarter (24%) in 2001 to three in ten (30%) in 2018
- 76% of babies were breastfed at discharge from maternity care
- three out of five babies (60%) were being breastfed at 6-8 weeks of age
- at the 9 month to 1 year check, around one in four (24%) babies were receiving breastmilk
- over the period 2015-2017 infant mortality in Jersey was 1.7 deaths in infants aged under 1 year of age, per 1,000 live births; similar to the rate of 3.9 per 1,000 live births in England
Births, fertility and breastfeeding, 2018
gov.je