Publication, Part of NHS Maternity Statistics
NHS Maternity Statistics, England, 2023-24
Official statistics
Summary
This is a publication on maternity activity in English NHS hospitals. This report examines data relating to delivery and birth episodes in 2023-24, and the booking appointments for these deliveries. This annual publication covers the financial year ending March 2024.
Data is included from both the Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) data warehouse and the Maternity Services Data Set (MSDS). HES contains records of all admissions, appointments and attendances for patients admitted to NHS hospitals in England. The HES data used in this publication are called 'delivery episodes'. The MSDS collects records of each stage of the maternity service care pathway in NHS-funded maternity services, and includes information not recorded in HES.
The MSDS is a maturing, national-level dataset. In April 2019, the MSDS transitioned to a new version of the dataset. This version, MSDS v2.0, is an update that introduced a new structure and content - including clinical terminology, in order to meet current clinical practice and incorporate new requirements. It is designed to meet requirements that resulted from the National Maternity Review, which led to the publication of the Better Births report in February 2016. This is the fifth publication of data from MSDS v2.0 and data from 2019-20 onwards is not directly comparable to data from previous years.
This publication shows the number of HES delivery episodes during the period, with a number of breakdowns including by method of onset of labour, delivery method and place of delivery.
It also shows the number of MSDS deliveries recorded during the period, with a breakdown for the mother's smoking status at the booking appointment by age group. It also provides counts of live born term babies with breakdowns for the general condition of newborns (via Apgar scores), skin-to-skin contact and baby's first feed type - all immediately after birth. There is also data available in a separate file on breastfeeding at 6 to 8 weeks.
For the first time information on 'Smoking at Time of Delivery' has been presented using annual data from the MSDS. This includes national data broken down by maternal age, ethnicity and deprivation. From 2025/2026, MSDS will become the official source of 'Smoking at Time of Delivery' information and will replace the historic 'Smoking at Time of Delivery' data which is to become retired. We are currently undergoing dual collection and reporting on a quarterly basis for 2024/25 to help users compare information from the two sources. We are working with data submitters to help reconcile any discrepancies at a local level before any close down activities begin. A link to the dual reporting in the SATOD publication series can be found in the links below.
Information on how all measures are constructed can be found in the HES Metadata and MSDS Metadata files provided below.
In this publication we have also included an interactive Power BI dashboard to enable users to explore key NHS Maternity Statistics measures.
The purpose of this publication is to inform and support strategic and policy-led processes for the benefit of patient care. This report will also be of interest to researchers, journalists and members of the public interested in NHS hospital activity in England.
Any feedback on this publication or dashboard can be provided to [email protected], under the subject “NHS Maternity Statistics”.
Key Facts
Number of deliveries in NHS hospitals
There were 545,149 deliveries during 2023-24.
Method of delivery
The most common method of delivery was spontaneous.
Skin-to-skin contact
74.7 per cent of babies born at 37 weeks or more had skin-to-skin contact within 1 hour of birth.
Folic acid supplement
85.6 per cent of women reported taking a folic acid supplement prior to, or on confirmation of, pregnancy.
Annual Interactive Dashboard 2023-24
Resources
Last edited: 2 January 2025 4:32 pm