This dataset presents the footprint of the percentage of selected women giving birth for the first time who gave birth by caesarean section. This has been calculated with the number of selected females giving birth for the first time who gave birth by caesarean section, divided by all selected females, and multiplied by 100. The data spans the years of 2014-2016 and is aggregated to Statistical Area Level 3 (SA3) geographic areas from the 2011 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS).
Women included are those who gave birth for the first time and met all of the following criteria:
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Aged between 20 and 34.
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Gestational age at birth between 37 and 41 completed weeks.
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Pregnancy has one baby only (singleton).
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The presentation of the baby is vertex (baby's head was at the cervix).
The data is sourced from the National Perinatal Data Collection (NPDC), which is a national population-based cross-sectional collection of data on pregnancy and childbirth. The data are based on births reported to the perinatal data collection in each state and territory in Australia. Midwives and other birth attendants, using information obtained from mothers and from hospital or other records, complete notification forms for each birth. A standard de-identified extract is provided to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) on an annual basis to form the NPDC.
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Please note:
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AURIN has spatially enabled the original data.
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A birth is defined as the event in which a baby comes out of the uterus after a pregnancy of at least 20 weeks gestation or weighing 400 grams or more.
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Caesarean section is an operative procedure to remove the baby through an incision through a female's abdomen and uterus.
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Gestational age is a clinical measure of the duration of the pregnancy. For the NPDC gestational age is reported as completed weeks.
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Data for selected women criteria, parity, were not available from Victoria for 2009.
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Data for Tasmania from 2004 to 2012 were not available. For Tasmania from 2005 to 2012, presentations via caesarean births were not reported by hospitals still using paper-based form. Where a caesarean section occurred the presentation was recorded as ‘Not stated’. Presentations via caesarean births were included in the paper-based form from 1 January 2013. The year 2004 was not included in this analysis.
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Data for Statistical Local Area Level 3 (SA3) of mother's usual residence reported using a 3-year aggregate, 2014-2016.
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The sum of the reported 'Grouped by' values may not equal the Australia total.