Pregnancy, birth and maternity - Birth outcomes

Miscarriage 

Miscarriage is the most common cause of pregnancy loss. Between 10-20% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage. Risk factors include age of the mother and smoking. The overall figure is difficult to quantify due to many miscarriages happening before women know they are pregnant. 

It is difficult to get an estimate of miscarriage numbers 

Data on miscarriage is captured if the woman requires hospital admission (inpatient or day case) for care related to their miscarriage (admissions to gynaecology or maternity units are captured on Scottish Morbidity Record 01 (SMR01) and Scottish Morbidity Record 02 (SMR02) records, respectively).  

There is no central record of miscarriages where the women are treated in outpatient settings, or at their GP, or for women who didn’t seek any medical intervention.  

Management of miscarriage has changed over the years: many women suffering a miscarriage are no longer admitted to hospital (either as a day case or an inpatient).  

The decline in miscarriage numbers seen in hospital data over recent years is unlikely to be a true decline in miscarriages – only a decline in those recorded in SMR01/02. 

Terminations 

Termination of pregnancy has been legal in the UK since the implementation of the 1967 Abortion Act.  

In 2021 there were 13.4 terminations per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44.  

There is a strong association between terminations and deprivation: the rate in the most deprived areas was almost twice as high as in the least deprived areas of Scotland (source: PHS Termination of pregnancy statistics).  

Further information can be found in the Sexual Health section of this website. 

Live births 

Unless otherwise stated the data shown on this page are drawn from the PHS data on Births in Scotland, using Scottish Morbidity Record 02 (SMR02) data. 

Second lowest birth rate since records began: 

There were 47,786 live births registered in 2021, the second lowest annual total since records began in 1855. Lower numbers of births and birth rates have only been observed in 2020. 

Increase in caesarean sections: 

Caesarean sections per 1,000 live births increased from 9% (5% elective and 4% emergency) in 1976 to 35% in 2020 (17% elective and 18% emergency). 

Birthweight has remained stable: 

The percentage of babies weighing above 2,500g has remained stable in Scotland at around 94-95% (1976-2020).

Further information can be found in the Sexual Health section of this website.