Skip to main content

Childbirth

Volume 460: debated on Friday 18 May 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of mothers spent (a) less than one day, (b) one day, (c) two days, (d) three days, (e) four days, (f) five days, (g) six days, (h) seven days and (i) eight days or more in hospital after giving birth in each year since 1995 for which records are available. (136527)

The information requested is set out in the following table.

NHS hospital deliveries: duration of postnatal stay, 1995-96 to 2005-06, England

Percentage

Total number of deliveries1 (=100%)

Same day

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8 or more

1995-96

592,600

11

29

22

14

11

7

3

1

2

1996-97

594,500

12

30

22

14

11

7

2

1

2

1997-98

585,000

13

31

21

13

11

6

2

1

2

1998-99

577,500

13

32

20

13

10

5

2

1

2

1999-2000

565,300

13

33

20

14

10

5

2

1

2

2000-01

549,600

13

33

20

14

10

5

2

1

2

2001-02

541,700

13

33

20

15

9

4

2

1

2

2002-03

548,000

14

34

20

15

8

4

2

1

2

2003-04

575,900

15

35

20

15

8

3

2

1

2

2004-05

584,100

16

35

21

15

7

3

2

1

2

1 Number of deliveries were taken from ONS birth registration data.

Notes:

1. Figures used to calculate percentages have been adjusted for shortfalls in data. It is probable that there are duplicates included in these counts, which we have not removed.

There may also be a variety of errors due to coding inconsistencies that have not yet been investigated and corrected.

2. Episode type: 2 = Delivery episode; 5 = Other delivery event

3. Data Quality: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are compiled from data sent by over 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. The Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain.

Source:

Hospital Episode Statistics (HES)

The Information Centre for health and social care