asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will arrange for all induced births of babies weighing less than 2,500 grams to be reported to him with full particulars, including the reasons for the inductions.
Statistical information on the number of babies under 2,500 grams born after induction is obtainable from existing returns. Reasons for induction are determined by clinical judgment in the light of the particular needs of each mother and baby, and it would be neither appropriate nor practicable for me to seek information on these.
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services in the last year for which figures are available, what percentage of babies born (a) by induction and (b) naturally weighed less than 2,500 grams.
Information is usually collected only for normal births—i.e., where there was spontaneous delivery and vertex presentation, without any ante-natal, delivery or puerperal complications, including non-maternity conditions and without abnormality of the child, including prematurity or stillbirth. In 1973, the latest year for which figures are available, the percentages of babies within this category weighing less than 2,500 grams with and without induction were as follows:
| with induction | 4·0 per cent. |
| Without induction | 5·3 per cent. |
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what percentages of births were induced in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Following are the figures for the latest five years for which data are available:
| ENGLAND AND WALES | ||
| Year | Estimated number of induced births in NHS hospitals | Percentage of total NHS hospital births |
| 1970 | 181,000 | 27·2 |
| 1971 | 203,000 | 29·6 |
| 1972 | 205,000 | 31·5 |
| 1973 | 232,000 | 37·2 |
| 1974* | 246,000 | 40·8 |
| * Provisional. | ||
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his estimate of the average extra cost of induction.
Induction is only one of many procedures available in the care of mother and baby, and these are not costed individually.
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied that induction does not increase the risk of handicap to the child.
Evidence suggests that induction may actually decrease the risk of handicap, and some studies have shown an association between an increased rate of induction and a reduced rate of perinatal mortality.