AIHW - Maternity Indicators - Third and Fourth Degree Tears for All Vaginal First Births (%) (SA3) 2014-2016

This dataset presents the footprint of the percentage of women who have a third or fourth-degree perineal laceration after giving birth vaginally for all first births, by the mother's usual residence. This has been calculated with the number of females who had a third or fourth-degree perineal laceration after giving birth for the first time and birth vaginally, divided by the number of females who gave birth for the first time and birth vaginally, and multiplied by 100. The data spans the years of 2014-2016 and is aggregated to Statistical Area Level 3 (SA3) geographic areas from the 2011 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). The data is sourced from the National Perinatal Data Collection (NPDC), which is a national population-based cross-sectional collection of data on pregnancy and childbirth. The data are based on births reported to the perinatal data collection in each state and territory in Australia. Midwives and other birth attendants, using information obtained from mothers and from hospital or other records, complete notification forms for each birth. A standard de-identified extract is provided to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) on an annual basis to form the NPDC. For further information about this dataset, please visit:

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare - National Core Maternity Indicators Data Tables.

Metadata Online Registry Entry.

Please note:

AURIN has spatially enabled the original data.

A birth is defined as an event in which a baby comes out of the uterus after a pregnancy of at least 20 weeks gestation or weighing 400 grams or more.

Births included are vaginal births, including non-instrumental and instrumental births.

Births excluded are caesarean sections.

Third-degree laceration is defined as perineal laceration, rupture or tear as in second-degree laceration occurring during delivery, also involving: anal sphincter, rectrovaginal septum, and sphincter not otherwise specified. Excludes laceration involving the anal or rectal mucosa. A fourth-degree laceration is defined as perineal laceration, rupture or tear as in third-degree laceration occurring during delivery, also involving: anal mucosa and rectal mucosa.

For multiple births, the perineal status after the birth of the first-born baby was used.

Data for SA3 of mother's usual residence reported using a 3-year aggregate, 2014-2016.

The sum of the reported 'Grouped by' values may not equal the Australia total.