§ Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the total number of births in Northern Ireland 480W in each of the past five years and the estimate for 1979 in the light of pregnancies known at the present time; and how the number of admissions for childbirth for the current year compares with the same period last year.
§ Mr. AlisonThe total number of births in Northern Ireland in each of the past five years was as follows:
1974 27,534 1975 26,505 1976 26,639 1977 25,747 1978 (provisional) 26,483 The total numbers of births recorded as having occurred in hospital during the first two quarters of 1978 and 1979 are as follows:
Quarter ending March 1978 6,357 March 1979 6,950 June 1978 6,805 June 1979 7,383 No information is available on the present number of pregnancies in Northern Ireland.