Saving Mothers' Lives: - Public Health Agency for Northern Ireland

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Annex 1.1 The changing face of motherhood in the UK
Multiple births
As shown earlier, women with multiple pregnancies had higher rates of death than women who had
singleton pregnancies. The percentages of maternities which are multiple have risen since the mid 1970s
in the four countries of the United Kingdom, although the rate of increase has slowed in recent years.
The two main factors which have led to the rise in multiple pregnancy rates have been the rising age at
childbirth, because older women are more likely than younger women to have a multiple pregnancy and
the use of ovarian stimulation and assisted conception. Guidelines issued by the RCOG and then by the
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority restricting the occasions when more than two embryos can
be replaced in IVF and related procedures have had a clear impact on numbers of triplet and higher order
maternities, even though the total number of ART procedures has continued to increase 1 .
Health and lifestyle
Obesity
Obesity is increasingly a matter of concern both general and in relation to pregnancy. There are no national
data about body mass indices of pregnant women. Data about obesity in the population in general are
collected through the Health Surveys undertaken in each country of the United Kingdom. The longest
series of data are those collected through the Health Survey for England2 , shown in Table A1.6. These
relate to all women and show a rise in the portion of women who are obese, with BMIs of 30.1 to 40.0, and
a particular rise in proportions with BMIs over 40.
Table A1.6
Trends in Body Mass Index, women; England: 1993-2005 1 .
BMI
18.5 or under 18.6-25.0 25.1-30.0 30.1-40.0 Over 40 All
1993
Percentages
1.9 49.5 32.2 15.0 1.4 100.0
1994 2.2 49.1 31.4 15.7 1.6 100.0
1995 2.2 47.4 32.9 16.1 1.4 100.0
1996 2.0 46.0 33.6 17.0 1.4 100.0
1997 1.9 45.6 32.8 17.4 2.3 100.0
1998 2.1 44.6 32.1 19.3 1.9 100.0
1999 1.8 44.3 32.8 19.2 1.9 100.0
2000 1.8 43.1 33.8 19.1 2.3 100.0
2001 1.6 41.9 32.9 21.0 2.5 100.0
2002 1.9 41.6 33.7 20.2 2.6 100.0
2003 1.9 41.3 33.4 20.6 2.9 100.0
2004 1.7 39.8 34.7 21.3 2.6 100.0
2005 1.6 40.7 32.9 19.0 2.9 100.0
Source: Health Survey for England.