Return to
Birth - Related
Statistics

TABLE 14:

Highlights:
Tab 14

TABLE 14
LIVE BIRTHS BY BIRTH WEIGHT AND AGE OF MOTHER
British Columbia, 2002

• There were 36,806 live births with healthy birth weights (2,500 to 4,499 grams) in 2002. Out of every 100 of these births approximately:
  • 4 were births to teenage mothers (1,467)
  • 44 were births to mothers aged 20 to 29 years (16,092)
  • 49 were births to mothers aged 30 to 39 years (17,991)
  • 3 were births to mothers 40 years of age or older (1,255)

• There were 2,103 live births with low birth weight (less than 2,500 grams) in 2002. Out of every 100 of these births, approximately:
  • 5 were births to teenage mothers (103)
  • 41 were births to mothers aged 20 to 29 years (867)
  • 49 were births to mothers aged 30 to 39 years (1,039)
  • 4 were births to mothers 40 years of age or older (94)

• There were 935 live births with high birth weight (4,500 grams or over) in 2002. Out of every 100 of these births, approximately:
  • 4 were births to teenage mothers (36)
  • 44 were births to mothers aged 20 to 29 years (414)
  • 49 were births to mothers aged 30 to 39 years (455)
  • 3 were births to mothers 40 years of age or older (30)

• Nine out of ten (92.4%) births to mothers in the four maternal age groups from 20-24 to 35-39 had "healthy" birth weights. One in 19 births in these age groups (5.2%) had low birth weight and one in 42 (2.4%) had high birth weight.

• Of live births to teenage mothers (less than 20 years of age), 91.2% had healthy birth weights, 6.4% had low and 2.2% had high birth weights. For mothers in the 40 or older age group, 90.8% of live births had healthy birth weights, 6.8% had low and 2.2% had high birth weights.