JSNA Births and Deaths

The Births and Deaths section of the JSNA sets out the key patterns and trends in births and deaths across Hampshire (and includes the Isle of Wight, Southampton and Portsmouth where available).

Births and Deaths are key measures for local and national authorities to plan services. Data in this report are available at district level, with deaths data also available at Primary Care Network (PCN) level.

The data in this report can be explored further in the JSNA Births and Deaths report. This link opens a Power BI presentation. Power BI is an interactive data visualization software developed by Microsoft.

A text summary is set out below.

Births

This section contains the main birth rate measures including: Crude birth rate - the number of live births per 1,000 of the total population, General fertility rate - the number of live births per 1,000 female population aged 15 to 44, and Total fertility rate - the average number of live children that a group of women would bear if they experienced the age specific fertility rates of the calendar year in question throughout their child bearing lifespan. Birth rates across Hampshire have been declining since 2013.

Preterm births

Preterm births are those before the 37 weeks of pregnancy and are the single biggest cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity in the UK. Babies born preterm have high rates of early, late and post neonatal mortality and the risk of mortality increases as gestational age at birth decreases. Babies who survive have increased rates of disability. Preterm births as a proportion of all live births have been declining across Hampshire since 2017.

Low birthweight births

Low birthweight increases the risk of childhood mortality and developmental problems for the child, and is also associated with poorer health in later life. At a population level a high proportion of low birthweight births could indicate lifestyle issues of the mothers and / or issues with maternity services. Overall low birthweight births have declined since 2013 in Hampshire, however, there were slight increases in 2016 and 2017.

All age all cause mortality

All cause mortality is a fundamental measure of the health status of a population. It represents the cumulative effect of: the prevalence of risk factors, prevalence and severity of disease, and the effectiveness of interventions and treatments. Differences in levels of all cause mortality reflect health inequalities between different population groups, e.g. between genders, socio-economic groups and ethnic groups. There is variation in all cause mortality by area within Hampshire with Rushmoor and Gosport showing the highest rates, whilst Hart and Winchester have the lowest rates.

Premature mortality

Premature mortality is a good high-level indicator of the overall health of a population, as it is correlated with many other measures of population health. There are significant differences between the premature death rates across different areas, reflecting a wide range of underlying differences between these populations. Gosport and Rushmoor are the districts in Hampshire with the highest rates of premature mortality for deaths under 75 and under 65, whilst Winchester, Hart and Fareham have the lowest rates.