HC Deb 05 July 1978 vol 953 cc233-4W
Mr. Carter-Jones

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list for 1956, 1966 and the last year for which figures are available, the percentage of births in Northern Ireland which were (a) singletons, (b) born to mothers under 20 years, (c) born to mothers over 35 years, (d) first pregnancies and (e) fifth or later pregnancies.

Mr.Carter

The available information on the respective categories is as follows

  1. (a) 97.4 per cent. in 1956, 97.8 per cent. in 1966 and 98.0 per cent. in 1976. The 1956 figure is based on live birth only, since still births in Northern Ireland were not registered before 1961. The 1966 and 1976 figures include stillbirth.
  2. (b) 8.1 per cent. in 1976. No information is available for 1956 and 1966.
  3. (c) 10.6 per cent. in 1976. No information is available for 1956 and 1966.
  4. (d) The information is not available in the form requested but 34.1 per cent. of legitimate live births registered in 1976 were the first children born to the mothers. No information is available for 1956 and 1966.
  5. (e) The information is not available in the form requested but 10.5 per cent. of legitimate live births registered in 1976 were the fifth or later children born to the mother. No information is available for 1956 and 1966.

will give the stillbirth and perinatal mortality rates for each group.

Mr.Carter

The figures are as follows:—