Pregnancy
(asked on 17th February 2023) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the age profile was of pregnant women in (a) England and (b) each region of England in the (i) most recent period for which data is available and (ii) (A) five and (B) ten years before the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by
Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The experimental Maternity Services Monthly Statistics Report for booking appointments and births that took place in England in November 2022 was published by NHS Digital on 23 February 2023. In November 2022, the national average age at the time of booking the appointment was 30.
The following table shows the age profile of pregnant women in November 2022.
Age profile | Number of women |
20 to 24 years old | 7245 |
25 to 29 years old | 15535 |
30 to 34 years old | 19350 |
35 to 39 years old | 10730 |
40 to 44 years old | 2485 |
45 years old or over | 245 |
Under 20 years old | 1825 |
Unknown | 5 |
The following table shows the age profile of pregnant women by region in November 2022.
Region | Average age |
London | 32 |
South West | 30 |
South East | 31 |
Midlands | 30 |
East of England | 30 |
North West | 30 |
North East and Yorkshire | 29 |
In November 2017, the national average age at the time of booking the appointment was 29.7 years old.
The following table shows the age profile of pregnant women in November 2017.
Age profile | Number of women |
20 to 24 years old | 8428 |
25 to 29 years old | 16171 |
30 to 34 years old | 17522 |
35 to 39 years old | 9552 |
40 to 44 years old | 2009 |
45 years old or over | 182 |
Under 20 years old | 2105 |
Unknown | 1 |
The following table shows the age profile of pregnant women by region in November 2022.
Region | Average age |
London | 31.2 |
Midlands and East of England | 29.3 |
North of England | 29.1 |
South of England | 30 |
This data was not collected 10 years ago.