Alberta Reproductive Health: Pregnancy Outcomes (2001) _____ i Reproductive Health Report Working Group: Dr. Xinjie Cui … … Project Lead) Health Surveillance, Alberta Health and Wellness Dr. Leslie Twilley Health Surveillance, Alberta Health and Wellness Betty Jennissen Alberta Medical Association Gary Gilham Standards and Measures, Alberta Health and Wellness Dr. Fu-Lin Wang Health Surveillance, Alberta Health and Wellness Reproductive Health Report Review …

This report follows the December 1999 Alberta Reproductive Health: Pregnancy Outcomes report. The December 1999 report was based on data for 1985 to 1998. The current report is based on the most recent available Alberta data, which includes data up to the end of 1998 or 1999, depending on the source. New to the report are congenital anomalies data, expanded information on high birth weight rates, maternal risk factors data, prenatal class attendance rates, breastfeeding initiation rates, epidural analgesia rates, and causes of death information. Spontaneous abortion data appear in this report after a year’s absence. Data sources for this report include: Vital Statistics, Alberta Health and Wellness Administrative databases, Statistics Canada publications, Health Canada publications, hospital statistics reported to the Alberta Medical Association (AMA) Committee on Reproductive Care, case information, and the offices of the medical examiners. Information on live births, stillbirths, spontaneous abortions, induced abortions, procedures related to delivery, breastfeeding initiation, congenital anomalies, and perinatal, neonatal, infant, and maternal mortality is provided. Wherever possible and appropriate, data are broken down for regional health authority, age groups, time trends, and risk factors. “Residence RHA” refers to the regional health authority in which the mother resided at the time of the relevant event, and “Facility RHA” refers to the regional health authority where the relevant event occurred. Overview Overview This report is produced with the goal of providing quality information of a timely nature to all parties for whom knowledge of trends in the reproductive health of Albertans is valuable. There are now fifteen years of data included in the report, and the reproductive health of Albertans has undergone profound changes during that period. Fertility rates have decreased strikingly. Average maternal age has increased. Low birth weight and pre-term births have become more common. High birth weight births and multiple births have also increased in frequency. Induced abortion rates have increased. Induction of labour has become much more widespread, and epidural analgesia in labour rates have increased in most regions. Infant death rates have decreased noticeably. Fertility rates are declining for women under 30 years, and increasing for women aged 30- 44 years. From 1996 to 1999, women aged 30-34 had higher fertility rates than women aged 20-24. The implications of delayed childbearing are widespread, with the health of both mothers and children of concern. Older mothers tend to have a higher risk of complications during pregnancy and delivery. Births to older mothers are also associated with poorer outcomes, including congenital anomalies, pre-term births, and low birth weight births. The rate of all congenital anomalies combined was at a fifteen-year low in 1999, though trends vary with different anomalies. Congenital anomalies are more common in mothers over 35. Low birth weight rates increased from 1995 to 1998, and fell to a five-year low in 1999. Alberta’s pre-term birth rate has increased over the last several years, reaching the fifteen-year high in 1999. Because prematurity and low birth weight are associated with increased perinatal and neonatal mortality and childhood morbidity, pre-term and low birth weight rates are of critical concern to the health system. Part of the increase in pre-term and low birth weight births can be attributed to increasing maternal age, and also to the use of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) techniques. IVF contributes to higher multiple birth rates as well.

Download Alberta Reproductive Health: Pregnancy Outcomes.Pdf