Birthweight

Overview

Of all babies born in NSW in 2022, 6.6% were born with a low birthweight (less than 2,500 grams). These comprised 0.7% of babies with a birthweight less than 1,000 grams, 0.5% in the 1,000 to 1,499 gram range and 5.3% in the 1,500 to 2,499 gram range. Rates of low birthweight ranged from 2.6% in Southern NSW Local Health District to 7.9% in Western NSW Local Health District.

Birthweight by local health district of residence, NSW 2022

By number of births

Local Health District	Less than 500	500–999	1,000–1,499	1,500–1,999	2,000–2,499	2,500–2,999	3,000–3,499	3,500–3,999	4,000–4,499	4,500+	Not stated	Total
Sydney	22	22	36	86	315	1315	2832	1808	432	34	8	6910
South Western Sydney	27	66	83	174	598	2529	5108	3898	1078	146	39	13746
South Eastern Sydney	29	41	51	78	341	1651	3925	2856	681	96	7	9756
Illawarra Shoalhaven	17	25	24	42	185	634	1673	1462	399	55	3	4519
Western Sydney	37	74	76	183	677	2961	5741	3694	927	120	18	14508
Nepean Blue Mountains	9	24	34	48	219	753	1748	1503	448	74	4	4864
Northern Sydney	18	38	28	73	290	1427	3479	2488	560	58	8	8467
Central Coast	9	20	23	42	165	573	1341	1199	393	63	4	3832
Hunter New England	37	67	65	146	498	1789	3990	3406	1020	117	22	11157
Northern NSW	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	16	106	409	963	813	286	51	13	2672
Mid North Coast	6	9	14	22	101	322	770	710	227	32	1	2214
Southern NSW	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	27	188	590	520	163	17	0	1518
Murrumbidgee	7	5	7	28	106	377	874	772	244	37	5	2462
Western NSW	n.p.	20	25	46	195	619	1324	1094	317	49	n.p.	3698
Far West	0	0	0	n.p.	8	33	69	69	18	n.p.	n.p.	204
Other–not stated	11	19	10	15	58	204	419	293	68	n.p.	0	1107
Total	242	437	485	1006	3889	15784	34846	26585	7261	962	137	91634

By percentage of births

Local Health District	Less than 500	500–999	1,000–1,499	1,500–1,999	2,000–2,499	2,500–2,999	3,000–3,499	3,500–3,999	4,000–4,499	4,500+	Not stated	Total
Sydney	0.3	0.3	0.5	1.2	4.6	19.0	41.0	26.2	6.3	0.5	0.1	100.0
South Western Sydney	0.2	0.5	0.6	1.3	4.4	18.4	37.2	28.4	7.8	1.1	0.3	100.0
South Eastern Sydney	0.3	0.4	0.5	0.8	3.5	16.9	40.2	29.3	7.0	1.0	0.1	100.0
Illawarra Shoalhaven	0.4	0.6	0.5	0.9	4.1	14.0	37.0	32.4	8.8	1.2	0.1	100.0
Western Sydney	0.3	0.5	0.5	1.3	4.7	20.4	39.6	25.5	6.4	0.8	0.1	100.0
Nepean Blue Mountains	0.2	0.5	0.7	1.0	4.5	15.5	35.9	30.9	9.2	1.5	0.1	100.0
Northern Sydney	0.2	0.4	0.3	0.9	3.4	16.9	41.1	29.4	6.6	0.7	0.1	100.0
Central Coast	0.2	0.5	0.6	1.1	4.3	15.0	35.0	31.3	10.3	1.6	0.1	100.0
Hunter New England	0.3	0.6	0.6	1.3	4.5	16.0	35.8	30.5	9.1	1.0	0.2	100.0
Northern NSW	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	0.6	4.0	15.3	36.0	30.4	10.7	1.9	0.5	100.0
Mid North Coast	0.3	0.4	0.6	1.0	4.6	14.5	34.8	32.1	10.3	1.4	0.0	100.0
Southern NSW	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	n.p.	1.8	12.4	38.9	34.3	10.7	1.1	0.0	100.0
Murrumbidgee	0.3	0.2	0.3	1.1	4.3	15.3	35.5	31.4	9.9	1.5	0.2	100.0
Western NSW	n.p.	0.5	0.7	1.2	5.3	16.7	35.8	29.6	8.6	1.3	n.p.	100.0
Far West	0.0	0.0	0.0	n.p.	3.9	16.2	33.8	33.8	8.8	n.p.	n.p.	100.0
Other–not stated	1.0	1.7	0.9	1.4	5.2	18.4	37.9	26.5	6.1	n.p.	0.0	100.0
Total	0.3	0.5	0.5	1.1	4.2	17.2	38.0	29.0	7.9	1.0	0.1	100.0

Downloads

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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