6. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers and babies

Abstract

The percentage of births to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers reported to the MDC rose from 58.7 to 65.7 per cent in the period 1994 to 1999, and has remained at about 65.0 per cent in 2000 and 2001. Reporting was better in rural hospitals than urban hospitals: it is estimated that in 2001 51.8 per cent of births to Aboriginal mothers in urban hospitals were correctly reported as Aboriginal compared to 81.9 per cent in rural hospitals (Table 34, Figure 2).