Pregnancy research, surveys and statistics

It is hard to believe that in this day and age, up to one in four women will lose a baby during pregnancy or birth [1, 2].

Tommy's believes every baby deserves the best start in life and we are committed to funding medical research and providing information to help more mums and dads through a healthy pregnancy and birth.

You can see a full list of our research projects and more detailed statistics by selecting a category from the links on the right. But here are some key facts for the UK.

Key statistics

England and Wales 2011

•   723,913 babies were born alive [3]
•   3,811 babies were stillborn [3]
•   In England, during 2010-11, 43,005 miscarriages resulted in an NHS hospital stay [4]
•   Also in England, and for the same time period, 39,125 of liveborn singleton deliveries were premature (under 37 weeks), compared to 4,265 of liveborn twin deliveries born under 37 weeks [4]

Expressed as the number per day:
• 1,983 babies were born every day
• 10 babies were stillborn every day

Scotland 2010

•   59,082 babies were born alive [5]
•   291 babies were stillborn [5]
•   About 4,352 babies were born preterm [6]
•   About 5,708 women experienced a miscarriage [6]

Expressed as the number per day:
•   162 babies were born every day
•   One baby was stillborn every second day
•   About 12 babies were born preterm every day
•   About 16 women experienced a miscarriage every day

Sources

1. Regan L. Miscarriage. London: Bloomsbury Publishing; 1997.

2. Adolfsson A, Larsson PG. Cumulative incidence of previous spontaneous abortion in Sweden in 1983-2003: a register study. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica 2006;85(6):741–7.

3. Office for National Statistics Statistical Bulletin. Births and Deaths in England and Wales, 2011 (Final). Available at: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_283306.pdf (2011, accessed 23 November 2012).

4. Hospital Episode Statistics/The Health and Social Care Information Centre. Explanatory notes 2010-11 and Maternity data 2011-12 (Chart 2). Available at: www.hesonline.nhs.uk/Ease/servlet/ContentServer?siteID=1937&categoryID=1941 (2012, accessed 6 December 2012).

5. NHS National Services Scotland. Scottish Perinatal and Infant Mortality and Morbidity Report 2010. Edinburgh: Healthcare Improvement Scotland. Available at: www.healthcareimprovementscotland.org/default.aspx?page=14046 (accessed 21 November 2012).

6. IDS Scotland. Births in Scottish Hospitals: Maternity and Births. Births in Scottish Hospitals 2009/10 (last updated August 2011). ‘All Births (live and still), preterm and full term by birthweight’ and ‘Miscarriages by maternal age’ Excel worksheets. Available at: www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Maternity-and-Births/Births/ (2010, accessed 24 November 2012).

In this section

Employment
Lifestyle statistics
Miscarriage statistics
Pre-eclampsia statistics
Premature birth statistics
Stillbirth statistics
Toxoplasmosis statistics