Maternal and child health

Introduction

Both maternal and paternal factors are important for a healthy pregnancy and birth. These factors can be broadly characterised as biological, social determinants of health, ecological factors and individual factors. Supporting mothers and fathers prior to, during and after pregnancy (the perinatal period) are international priorities.

This section provides a high level summary of maternal and perinatal health indicators in Queensland. A comprehensive Queensland Mothers and Babies report was recently released (see Additional info).

Overview

In 2022, 59,934 Queensland women gave birth to 60,843 babies within the state. The number of births has fluctuated over the last decade but generally have a downward trend (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Trend in number of mothers and babies who are Queensland residents

Maternal risk factors

There are known modifiable risk factors, such as smoking, alcohol consumption and being obese, that are associated with poorer birth outcomes. Also, there is a higher risk of birth complications when the mother is older.

• Maternal smoking is on a declining trend, with 11.1% of mothers reporting smoking while they were pregnant in 2022, compared to 12.5% in 2015. This data does not include vaping, and information about maternal electronic cigarette use in Queensland was not available.
• Mothers who were obese (reported having body mass index greater than or equal to 30 at conception) increased from 19.3% in 2012 to 24.7% in 2022.
• The proportion of mothers who were 35 years or older at the time of delivery has increased from 19.2% in 2012 to 23.3% in 2022.
• The proportion of mothers diagnosed with gestational diabetes has increased from 6.8% in 2012 to 16.5% in 2022. This is likely to be due to several factors, including the increase in the proportion of older or overweight/obese mothers, mothers from ethnic background with higher risk of developing gestational diabetes, and new diagnostic guidelines.¹
• Of the mothers who gave birth to babies with at least 32 week gestation, 96.2% had at least five or more antenatal visits during their pregnancy in 2022, compared to 95.2% in 2012.

Figure 2: Trend in selected Queensland maternal risk factors

Alcohol during pregnancy

To prevent harm from alcohol to their unborn child, women who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy should not drink alcohol. Alcohol consumption can increase the risk of adverse birth outcomes, and can have lifelong effect on their child.^2,3

Since July 2019, self-reported data on alcohol consumption during pregnancy have been collected within the Perinatal Data Collection. In 2022, 5.2% of Queensland mothers reported consuming alcohol in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, while 0.8% reported consuming alcohol after 20 weeks of pregnancy. These figures were comparable to the national estimate.²

The National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) also provides information on substance use during pregnancy. It uses a household survey methodology with data collected outside of a clinical or health setting. In 2022–2023, the NDSHS reported that nationally, 28% of pregnant women from 14 to 49 years had consumed alcohol while pregnant, a decline from 42% in 2013.⁴ Further, the percentage of women who had not consumed any alcohol, tobacco or illicit substances had increased from 52% to 69% over the same period.

Birthweight and gestational weeks of the babies

The health status of the baby at the time of birth is an important indicator for their short and long term wellbeing. Outcomes such as birthweight and gestational week at birth are internationally recognised indicators that are commonly reported across many countries. The World Health Organization defines low birth weight as less than 2500g at birth,⁵ and pre-term birth as birth before 37 weeks gestation.⁶

In 2022, 6.6% of live birth babies were born at 2500g or less, and 8.9% of all babies were born pre-term. Both measures have varied slightly over time but remained broadly stable. Information for First Nations mothers is on the First Nations page.

Figure 3: Trend in Queensland babies born low birth weight and pre-term

Vaccinations

Pregnancy is a period of increased susceptibility to infection that can lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes.⁷ Further, young infants are at increased risk of severe disease due to several bacteria and viruses and maternal antibodies provide early protection until the infant is old enough to be vaccinated.⁸ Vaccinations provide the safest and the most effective protection against serious complications from such diseases, and it is recommended that pregnant women be vaccinated. Through the National Immunisation Program (NIP), pregnant women are eligible to receive vaccinations at no cost and the following are recommended:⁹

• pertussis (whooping cough)
• Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)
• influenza.

Uptake of influenza vaccination by pregnant women steadily increased from 2016, peaking in 2020 with 59.7% vaccinated. In 2022, however, there were more unvaccinated than vaccinated pregnant women (Figure 4). Similarly, the uptake of pertussis vaccination peaked in 2020 (77.2%), and has since declined to 70.9% in 2022.

Figure 4: Trend in vaccination uptake by Queensland mothers

Respiratory Syncytial Virus immunisation

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a communicable respiratory disease which can cause cold or flu-like symptoms when infected. While infection usually results in mild symptoms only, RSV can be serious, especially for infants and older people. Recent evidence suggests there is an association between RSV infection during infancy and asthma during childhood.^10–12

RSV is the most common cause of hospitalisation among infants, and in 2019 it was estimated to account for 3.6 million hospitalisations and 101,400 deaths among children 0 to 60 months worldwide.¹³

On 15 April 2024, all babies born in Queensland birthing hospitals became eligible for a free RSV immunisation.¹⁴ Early results show that by 1 December 2024, there had been 390 less RSV hospitalisations in infants under 6-months since the program commenced.¹⁵

From 1 December 2024, pregnant women became eligible to receive RSV vaccination for free through the NIP. Maternal immunisation reduces the risk of severe RSV disease in infants under 6 months of age by around 70%.⁹

Additional information

Data and statistics

In 2025, the Queensland Mothers and Babies 2020–2021: Report of the Queensland Maternal and Perinatal Quality Council 2023 was released by the Queensland Maternal and Perinatal Quality Council. Further information can be found on the Queensland Maternal and Perinatal Quality Council website.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s Mothers & babies series provide comprehensive statistics on maternal and perinatal statistics for Australia.

Queensland Health’s Perinatal reports and information provide comprehensive statistics on maternal and perinatal statistics for Queensland.

Technical notes

Data for this section were sourced from the Queensland Perinatal Data Collection. See Perinatal reports and information for more information. Data for interstate women who gave birth in Queensland were excluded.

Further for individual indicators:

• For low birth weight, babies of unknown birth weight and those who were stillborn were excluded.
• For pre-term births, babies of unknown gestation were excluded.
• For 5 or more antenatal visits, women who attended an unknown or unspecified number of antenatal visits or gave birth at less than 32 weeks gestation were excluded.
• For obese mothers, women with unknown body mass index were excluded.
• For maternal smoking, women with unknown smoking status were excluded.

Figures on this page are interactive

To learn more about how to navigate interactive figures, dashboards, and visualisations see About this Report.