Maternity and newborn care
Victorian health services are dedicated to delivering safe, efficient and effective healthcare to the community. Full-term babies (37 weeks +) without known conditions are expected to be born in good health.
Tap the buttons below for specific data about the quality and safety of maternity and newborn care in Victoria. You can filter by health service.
Scroll further down for more information about the data (measures).
About the data
The above measures look at:
- babies in poor condition shortly after birth
- babies with severe Fetal Growth Restriction (FGR).
About babies in poor condition shortly after birth
Apgar is a quick test performed on a baby at 1 and 5 minutes after birth. It checks a baby's heart rate, muscle tone, reflexes and other signs to see if extra or emergency care is needed.
Scores range from 0 (worst) to 10 (best). If a baby's Apgar score is under 7 at 5 minutes post-birth, it is assessed as being in poor condition. This may be due to avoidable factors.
Data are for single births. It excludes babies born at under 37 weeks, those born with congenital anomalies, stillbirths, and babies not born in hospital.
Data are not provided where there are less than 10 singleton, liveborn term babies without congenital anomalies during a reporting period.
The 2022-23 statewide target is 1.4% or less of babies with an Apgar score is under 7 at 5 minutes post-birth. The 2023–24 statewide target has not been finalised.
About babies with severe Fetal Growth Restriction (FGR)
Severe FGR is when an unborn baby is smaller than it should be because it is not growing at a normal rate during pregnancy. Babies with severe FGR are at risk of death or long-term health complications. They should be identified and born before 40 weeks.
The data show the proportion of babies with severe FGR who were not born before 40 weeks gestation, and includes all single severe FGR live births and stillbirths.
Data are not provided where there are less than 10 singleton births (live and stillborn) with severe FGR born at and beyond 32 weeks gestation during the reporting period.
The 2022-23 statewide target is 28.6% or less babies with severe FGR who were not born before 40 weeks gestation. The 2023–24 statewide target has not been finalised.
Notes
- Data source: Victorian Perinatal Data Collection. Data extracted on 16 October 2024
- Results are reported quarterly using 12 months' rolling data
- Results are lagged by one quarter
- Results are suppressed (displayed as NP) when the number of eligible infants for the respective measures were less than 10 in the reporting period
- Results for the current financial year are preliminary and may change from quarter to quarter, final results will be available in November. Results from the previous financial year have been finalised
- * No results are available
- N.P. - Results not published.