Photo by Sarah Fowler
Australian Homebirth Statistics
The latest statistics on homebirth in Australia, according to the 'Australia's Mothers and Babies report' indicate that the national homebirth rate remains at 0.5% of total births in 2021. Unfortunately, 2021 data excludes the state of VIC, so these national statistics are not completely accurate.
315, 705 babies were born in Australia in 2021. Of those babies, 1,585 were born at home.
The highest number of homebirths in 2021 were in the Northern Territory (1.2%) and the lowest number of homebirths in New South Wales and the ACT (0.3%).
The latest statistics on homebirth in Australia, according to the 'Australia's Mothers and Babies report' indicate that the national homebirth rate remains at 0.5% of total births in 2021. Unfortunately, 2021 data excludes the state of VIC, so these national statistics are not completely accurate.
315, 705 babies were born in Australia in 2021. Of those babies, 1,585 were born at home.
The highest number of homebirths in 2021 were in the Northern Territory (1.2%) and the lowest number of homebirths in New South Wales and the ACT (0.3%).
It is interesting to compare the number of intended homebirths vs the number of actual homebirths in this time frame. Due to the way data is collected in different states, it is impossible to tell from this report how many intended homebirths resulted in hospital transfer, or how many intended homebirths ended up in hospital due to the woman being unable to book a midwife (access and availability). We know that anecdotally, the number of homebirth enquiries that privately practising midwives (PPMs) received during the pandemic was significantly higher than in previous years).
The average age of women who gave birth at home in 2019, 2020 and 2021 is 32 years.
The average gestational age of babies born at home in 2019, 2020 and 2021 was 40 weeks (compared to an average of 38 weeks in hospital and 39 weeks in birth centres).
The following graphs show the parity (number of previous children) of women as a % of the total number of women who birthed at home, hospital and in birth centres in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Most homebirths (71.2%) were in major cities, with only 0.8% of homebirths taking place in a remote area.
It is probable that not all homebirths are reported to the perinatal data collections.
Source: Australia's Mothers and Babies Report
Page updated: 29th February 2024
Source: Australia's Mothers and Babies Report
Page updated: 29th February 2024