Perinatal Health Indicators for Canada 2017

Produced by the Canadian Perinatal Surveillance System (CPSS), this report presents surveillance information on key indicators of maternal, fetal and infant health in Canada including:

• Rate of live births to teenage mothers
• Rate of live births to older mothers
• Rate of caesarean delivery
• Severe maternal morbidity rate
• Pregnancy-related mortality rate
• Preterm birth rate
• Post-term birth rate
• Small-for-gestational-age birth rate
• Large-for-gestational-age birth rate
• Fetal mortality rate
• Infant mortality rate
• Neonatal mortality rate
• Birth prevalence of congenital anomalies
• Multiple birth rate

The results presented are based on the most recent available data:

• Vital statistics data up to 2010 and 2011
• Hospitalization data up to 2014-2015

The report includes the following main findings:

• The rate of infant mortality remained stable and very low. The latest data (2011) show that the rate of infant mortality was 5 deaths per 1,000 live births.
• Between 2007 and 2014, the rate of live births to teenage mothers aged 18-19 years has steadily declined from 27.2 to 18.6 per 1,000 females.
• The overall rate of caesarean delivery was 28.4% of hospital deliveries in 2014-2015.

To obtain a PDF copy of the report, please visit: Perinatal Health Indicators for Canada on the Government of Canada Publications website.