| The study again puts Tayside at the top of the league for teenage pregnancies, with 46 per 1000 girls in 2000-02, though the figures follow the national downward trend, dropping from 54 per 1000 in 1990-92.
Across Scotland, the teenage pregnancy rate fell from 46 per 1000 to 40 per 1000.
The proportion of teenage pregnancies resulting in abortion increased nationally from 31% in 1990-92 to 37% in 2000-02, and in Tayside from 38% to 41%.
Across Scotland, statistics show the number of women of childbearing age (15-44 years) has fallen by 3.8% between 1990 and 2002, with only Lothian recording a rise, of 3.8%
The latest figures also show more women of childbearing age in the 35-39 age range than any other. In 1992, the most popular grouping was 25-29 years, and the shifting pattern has implications for maternity services with older mothers more likely to have problems.
The number of live births per year for every 1000 women of childbearing age has fallen from 58 in 1990-92 to 48 in 2000-02, with Tayside broadly in line with the national figures.
The proportion of live, single infants born without intervention has fallen from 73% in 1990-02 to 65%, with little variation between NHS Board areas.
Rates of elective and emergency Caesarean section have risen from 5.4% and 9.2%, respectively, to 7.8% and 14%. In Tayside, the rise has been from 5% (elective) and 7.9% (emergency), to 8.2% and 11.7%, the lowest emergency section rate in the country.
The proportion of induced births rose from 21% to 27% nationally, and from 15% to 26% in Tayside.
Only Fife and Lothian did not follow the national trend and recorded a fall in induction rates.
According to the report, variations between health boards in the number of sections and inductions remain when the figures are adjusted for key factors, such as pre-existing medical conditions and socio-economic deprivation, suggesting different practice by medical staff in different parts of the country, rather than differences in their patients.
The perinatal mortality rate, which measures stillbirths and deaths in a baby’s first week, showed a fall among normally formed infants weighing at least 1000g, from 4.8 per 1000 to 4.5 per 1000 in Scotland between 1995-97 and 2000-02. The fall was more marked in Tayside, from 5.5 to 3.9.
Tayside mirrored the national rise in the proportion of preterm births, under 37 weeks, from 5.5% to 6% between 1990-92 and 2000-02.
The proportion of low birth weight (under 2500g) babies also increased nationally over the same period from 5.5% to 5.8%, and in Tayside from 5% to 5.6%.
The report says the differences in rates of preterm birth highlight the need for greater resources to manage the problem in the areas most affected.
Regarding accessibility of maternity service, the report shows that in 2001 99.6% of Tayside women were within one hour of a maternity unit and 97.8% within an hour of a consultant-led unit.
However, just 5.1% were within an hour of a tertiary unit, to which the most complicated cases are usually referred.
However, these figures will clearly no longer apply, with the removal of consultant cover at the PRI unit last year. |
