Pregnancy, births and maternity: key points for Scotland

Birth and fertility rates continue to fall 

• In 2023, there were 45,935 live births, the lowest number since records began in 1855.
• The fertility rate in 2023 was 45 live births per 1,000 women of child-bearing age.  

Women are having children later  

• Women aged 30 years and over accounted for over half (60%) of all live births in 2023. In comparison, in 2000 47% of births were to women aged 30 years and over.

An estimated 8-24% of clinically recognised pregnancies miscarry  

• The actual number of miscarriages (known and unknown) is difficult to quantify as miscarriages often occur before a woman is aware she is pregnant and are only recorded if the woman is admitted to hospital.   

Stillbirths remain at a low level

• There were 3.7 stillbirths per 1,000 total births in 2023. 

 Rate of terminations has increased

• Termination services in Scotland undertook 18,207 terminations in 2023, representing a 10% increase in service demand from 2022 (from 16.1 per 1000 women aged 15-44 years in 2022 to 17.6 in 2023). Increases were observed across all age groups and in all NHS board areas.

 Teenage pregnancy increased in 2022

• Teenage pregnancies rose for the first time in over a decade in 2022 (27.1 per 1000 women and girls) from 2021 (23.2). However, the national teenage pregnancy rate in 2022 is lower than the rate observed in 2019 (27.7). It is possible that the 2020 and 2021 rates represent a steeper decline than would have been observed in the absence of Covid-19 related lockdowns and the 2022 rate is a slowing of the pre-pandemic downward trend.

Maternal deaths are increasing 

• The 2020-22 UK maternal death rate was 13.6 per 100,000 deliveries, an increase from 11.7 in the 2019-21 period. If COVID-19 attributable deaths are excluded, the maternal mortality rate for 2020-22 was 11 .7% which was higher than the rate for 2019-21. This difference was not statistically significant. The rate of overall maternal mortality in the 2020-22 triennium was statistically significantly increased from that in 2017-19 where it was 8.8 per 100,000 deliveries.

Breastfeeding rates are increasing 

• 28% of babies in 2022/23 were exclusively breastfed at 6-8 weeks of age; an increase since 2012/13.  A further 19% were fed a mixture of breast milk and formula milk. 
• The overall proportion of babies receiving any breastfeeding at around 10-14 days of age has increased from 44% in 2002/03 to 57% in 2022/23.