MaltaMedia.com

Posted on December 11th, 2008

7.2 per cent of women in Malta reported smoking during pregnancy, as the Department of Health Information and Research announces the release of the ‘European Perinatal Health Report’ (EPHR), a first attempt at bringing together standardized perinatal health indicators for Europe.

Smoking during pregnancy has been associated with fetal growth restriction. However, many women are reluctant to report smoking habits at their antenatal visits. The highest rate reported was 22% for Wales and the lowest was 4.8% for Lithuania.

Malta’s teenage delivery rate is of 5.8 per cent. It ranges from 1.3 per cent in Denmark to 9.3 per cent in Latvia. These variations reflect different cultures and practices.

Breast feeding is considered of benefit to babies in terms of both nutrients and resistance to infection, as said by the Department of Health Information and Research.

The rate of newborns breastfed during the first 48 hours was reported as 68.4% for Malta. Four centres reported lower rates: Ireland (45.6 per cent), France (62.3 per cent), Northern Ireland (63.0 per cent) and Wales (67.0 per cent).

The highest rate of breast feeding in the first 48 hours was reported from Sweden at 97.9 per cent.

Malta did not register any maternal deaths in 2003 or 2004.

Infant mortality (number of deaths following live birth and until one year of age) for Malta was reported at 5.9/1000 live births. The highest was 9.4/1000 live births for Latvia and the lowest was 3.0/1000 live births for Sweden and Norway.