Cabinet Office written question – answered at on 12 June 2014.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Glen Watson, dated June 2014
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State for Health how many births, broken down by the week of pregnancy in which the birth occurred, there were in England in the last year for which figures are available. (199856)
Information on gestational age (length of pregnancy) is not routinely recorded at the registration of live births. However, ONS links birth registrations to NHS birth notifications data to publish figures by gestational age. These figures are less timely than statistics based on birth registrations only.
Table 1 below provides the numbers of live births by each completed week's gestation for 2011 (the most recent period for which figures are available).
Published statistics on births and infant deaths by gestational age for England and Wales are available on the Office for National Statistics website:
Table 1: Live births by gestational age, England, 20111, 2 | |
Live births | |
<22 | 170 |
23 | 282 |
24 | 446 |
25 | 510 |
26 | 646 |
27 | 771 |
28 | 981 |
29 | 1,115 |
30 | 1,419 |
31 | 1,886 |
32 | 2,791 |
33 | 3,771 |
34 | 6,475 |
35 | 9,196 |
36 | 18,182 |
37 | 39,122 |
38 | 89,033 |
39 | 153,508 |
40 | 185,411 |
41 | 135,819 |
42 | 27,525 |
Total | 679,059 |
1 Excludes those with low gestational age inconsistent with birth weight, or with gestational age not stated. 2 Excludes births to non-residents. Source: Office for National Statistics. |
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