The National Perinatal Data Collection comprises data items as specified inthe Perinatal National Minimum Data Set plus additional items collected bythe states and territories. The purpose of the Perinatal NMDS is to collect information at birth for monitoring pregnancy, childbirth and the neonatal period for both the mother and baby(s). The Perinatal NMDS is a specification for data collected on all births in Australia in hospitals, birth centres and the community. It includes information for all live births and stillbirths of at least 400 grams birthweight or at least 20 weeks gestation. It includes data items relating to the mother, including demographic characteristics and factors relating to the pregnancy, labour and birth; and data items relating to the baby, including birth status, sex, gestational age at birth, birthweight and neonatal morbidity and fetal deaths. While the Perinatal NMDS provides all relevant data elements of interest for this indicator, it includes information on the Indigenous status of the mother only. The Perinatal NMDS includes information on the Indigenous status of the mother only. The Perinatal NMDS has no data item for the Indigenous status of the baby. Currently, reporting of Indigenous status of the baby is based on the maternal Indigenous status only. In 2006, this represented approximately 70 per cent of all Indigenous births based on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) birth registrations (ABS 2007: Births, Australia 2006). While each jurisdiction has a unique perinatal form for collecting data on which the format of the Indigenous status question and recording categories varies slightly, all systems include the NMDS item on Indigenous status of mother. No formal national assessment has been undertaken to determine completeness of the coverage of Indigenous mothers in the Perinatal NMDS or to determine variability between states and territories. However, the proportion of Indigenous mothers for the period 1997–2006 has been consistent, at 3.2–3.7 per cent of women who gave birth. Comparisons between states and territories should be interpreted with this caution. Babies of mothers for whom Indigenous status was not stated (0.1 per cent missing) have been excluded from rates but are included in totals for this indicator. |