Gestational age

Overview

In 2022, 91.8% of babies born in NSW were born at term (37–41 weeks gestation), 7.3% were born prematurely (less than 37 weeks gestation), and 0.8% were post-term babies (42-plus weeks gestation). The 7.3% of preterm births comprised 0.8% born at less than 28 weeks, 0.6% at 28–31 weeks, and 5.9% at 32–36 weeks. The highest rate of preterm birth was 8.7% in Hunter New England Local Health District, while the lowest was 2.2% in Southern NSW Local Health District.

Gestational age by local health district of residence, NSW 2022

By number of births

Local Health District	<28 weeks	28–31 weeks	32–36 weeks	37–41 weeks	42+ weeks	Not stated	Total
Sydney	51	40	450	6333	32	4	6910
South Western Sydney	96	98	952	12561	18	21	13746
South Eastern Sydney	72	45	462	9074	88	15	9756
Illawarra Shoalhaven	43	28	255	4156	36	1	4519
Western Sydney	115	85	822	13400	82	4	14508
Nepean Blue Mountains	33	33	328	4418	30	22	4864
Northern Sydney	62	38	414	7913	30	10	8467
Central Coast	32	28	229	3451	76	16	3832
Hunter New England	123	73	774	10030	135	22	11157
Northern NSW	10	10	119	2460	72	1	2672
Mid North Coast	16	12	122	2039	23	2	2214
Southern NSW	n.p.	n.p.	28	1451	32	2	1518
Murrumbidgee	14	6	148	2280	12	2	2462
Western NSW	33	25	253	3354	27	6	3698
Far West	n.p.	n.p.	11	191	n.p.	n.p.	204
Other–not stated	30	10	77	978	n.p.	n.p.	1107
Total	734	533	5444	84089	699	135	91634

By percentage of births

Local Health District	<28 weeks	28–31 weeks	32–36 weeks	37–41 weeks	42+ weeks	Not stated	Total
Sydney	0.7	0.6	6.5	91.6	0.5	0.1	100.0
South Western Sydney	0.7	0.7	6.9	91.4	0.1	0.2	100.0
South Eastern Sydney	0.7	0.5	4.7	93.0	0.9	0.2	100.0
Illawarra Shoalhaven	1.0	0.6	5.6	92.0	0.8	0.0	100.0
Western Sydney	0.8	0.6	5.7	92.4	0.6	0.0	100.0
Nepean Blue Mountains	0.7	0.7	6.7	90.8	0.6	0.5	100.0
Northern Sydney	0.7	0.4	4.9	93.5	0.4	0.1	100.0
Central Coast	0.8	0.7	6.0	90.1	2.0	0.4	100.0
Hunter New England	1.1	0.7	6.9	89.9	1.2	0.2	100.0
Northern NSW	0.4	0.4	4.5	92.1	2.7	0.0	100.0
Mid North Coast	0.7	0.5	5.5	92.1	1.0	0.1	100.0
Southern NSW	n.p.	n.p.	1.8	95.6	2.1	0.1	100.0
Murrumbidgee	0.6	0.2	6.0	92.6	0.5	0.1	100.0
Western NSW	0.9	0.7	6.8	90.7	0.7	0.2	100.0
Far West	n.p.	n.p.	5.4	93.6	n.p.	n.p.	100.0
Other–not stated	2.7	0.9	7.0	88.3	n.p.	n.p.	100.0
Total	0.8	0.6	5.9	91.8	0.8	0.1	100.0

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Notes

Source: NSW Perinatal Data Collection (SAPHaRI). Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence, NSW Ministry of Health.

1. Cells with counts less than 5 are suppressed, and other cells may also be hidden to prevent back-calculation. These cells are marked with n.p.

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