INDEX

Summary of Birth-Related Statistics

TABLE 7:

Highlights:

Births by Age of Mother and Live Births by Birth Order,
British Columbia, 1999
Highlights to Table 7

TABLE 8:

Highlights:

Live Births by Age of Mother and Kind of Birth,
British Columbia, 1999
Highlights to Table 8

TABLE 9:

Highlights:

Live Births by Mode of Delivery and Age of Mother,
British Columbia, 1999
Highlights to Table 9

TABLE 10:

FIGURE 9:

Highlights:

Live Births by Local Health Area and Mode of Delivery,
British Columbia, 1999
Cesarean Deliveries of Live Born Infants by Local Health Area,
British Columbia, 1999
Highlights to Table 10/Figure 9

TABLE 11:

Highlights:

Live Births by Age of Father, Age of Mother and Out-Of-Wedlock,
British Columbia, 1999
Highlights to Table 11

TABLE 12:

FIGURE 10:

Highlights:

Live Birth Fertility Rates by Local Health Area, British Columbia, 1994-1998 and 1998
Live Birth Teenage Fertility Rates by Local Health Area, British Columbia, 1994-1998
Highlights to Table 12/Figure 10

TABLE 13:
Highlights:

Live Births by Birth Weight and Gestational Age, British Columbia, 1999
Highlights to Table 13

TABLE 14:
Highlights:

Live Births by Birth Weight and Age of Mother, British Columbia, 1999
Highlights to Table 14

TABLE 15:
FIGURE 11:
Highlights:

Low Birth Weight Live Births by Age of Mother and Gender, British Columbia, 1999
Low Birth Weight Live Births by Age of Mother, British Columbia, 1999
Highlights to Table 15/Figure 11

TABLE 16:

FIGURE 12:

Highlights:

Low Birth Weight Live Births by Local Health Area and Gestational Age,
British Columbia, 1994-1998 and 1999
Low Birth Weight Live Births by Local Health Area,
British Columbia, 1994-1998
Highlights to Table 16/Figure 12

TABLE 17:

Highlights:

Selected Maternal Complications of Pregnancy and Delivery in Live Births
by Age of Mother, British Columbia, 1994-1998 and 1999
Highlights to Table 17

TABLE 18:

FIGURE 13:

Highlights:

Maternal Complications of Pregnancy and Delivery in Live Births by Local Health Area,
British Columbia, 1994-1998 and 1999
Maternal Complications of Pregnancy and Delivery in Live Births
by Local Health Area, British Columbia, 1994-1998
Highlights to Table 18/Figure 13

TABLE 19:

Highlights:

Perinatal Complications in Live Births by Age of Mother,
British Columbia, 1994-1998 and 1999
Highlights to Table 19

TABLE 20:

FIGURE 14:

Highlights:

Perinatal Complications in Live Births by Local Health Area,
British Columbia, 1994-1998 and 1999
Perinatal Complications in Live Births by Local Health Area,
British Columbia, 1994-1998
Highlights to Table 20/Figure 14

Summary

Statistics arising from birth events in British Columbia are presented in this section. These events are assigned to a Local Health Area (LHA) based on the usual residence of the mother. Information is included on birth weights, gestational ages, modes of delivery, maternal and paternal ages, birth orders, kinds of birth, complications of pregnancy and delivery, and complications in the perinatal period. Several of the tables are accompanied by maps depicting variations in rates and ratios by LHA.

Statistics on birth events for 1999 are summarized below:

There were 41,739 live births to B.C. residents in the province. The 1999 birth rate of 10.36 live births per 1,000 population was the lowest birth rate in the post-war period (23.8 in 1950).
There were 294 stillbirths in 1999. Including stillbirths, there were 42,033 total births in 1999 to B.C. residents. The 1999 stillbirth rate, 6.99 per 1,000 total births, was slightly higher than the five-year rate of 6.94 for the 1995-1999 period (shown in Appendix 3).
Out of 100 live births in 1999:
- 5 were to teenage mothers, less than 20 years old (2,005)
- 46 were to mothers 20 to 29 years old (19,337)
- 46 were to mothers 30 to 39 years old (19,277)
- 3 were to mothers 40 years of age or older (1,120)
Multiple births occurred in 2.5% of all live births in 1999. There were 967 live born twins and 61 live born triplets. A set of quadruplets was born in B.C. in 1999, for the first time since 1993.
In 1999, more than one fifth of all live births (22.2%) were delivered by cesarean section (9,282) and almost two thirds of these (5,895) were first cesareans. The 1999 cesarean section rate, 222.38 per 1,000 live births, was higher than the five-year rate of 207.86 for 1995-1999 (Appendix 3).
There were 15.18 live births per 1,000 young women in the 15-19 age group in 1999. This age-specific fertility rate for 1999 was lower than the 1994-1998 teenage fertility rate of 18.83.
In 1999, almost nine out of ten live births (36,980) were delivered at term (from 37 to 41 weeks gestation) with normal birth weight (2,500 to 4,499 grams). These babies with "healthy" gestational ages and birth weights accounted for 88.6% of 1999 live births.
In 1999, there were 1,981 live births with low birth weight (less than 2,500 grams) and 2,672 pre-term (less than 37 weeks gestation) live births. A total of 1,413 babies (3.4%) were both pre-term and low birth weight; out of this group, only one in ten (152 births) was extremely premature (less than 28 weeks gestation) and had very low birth weight (less than 1,500 grams).

Personal information collected by the Vital Statistics Agency is protected under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and is treated with confidentiality.