The report, which was compiled by Dr Miriam Gatt, gives the total figure for births at 967 out of 951 deliveries. Compared to last year, one can see that the number of deliveries and consequently the births increased by 26 and 19 respectively.

A total of 176 deliveries were by single mothers, 766 by women married once (married, widowed or separated) while the rest were by women of unspecified status.

The report stated that figures and percentages for deliveries by single mothers and married women were similar in 2003 and 2004.

In fact, in 2003 18 per cent of mothers were single, 80 per cent were married and two per cent were unspecified.

In 2004, again 18 per cent were single, 81 per cent married and 1 per cent were unspecified.

The highest number of deliveries was 348 in the 25-29 bracket, followed by 251 in the 30-34 bracket and 183 in the 20-24 bracket.

The 35-39 bracket came in fourth with 96 deliveries, the next bracket was 15-19 at 48 deliveries followed by 19 deliveries in the 40-44 bracket. Brackets unspecified, 45+ and under 15 all stood at two.

Ninety-nine per cent of single mothers reported having support to raise their infant while one per cent did not.

Of the total deliveries this quarter, 880 were to Maltese women (92 per cent). Forty-three (five per cent) were non-Maltese while 28 (three per cent) were not specified.

Maternal lifestyles

Six per cent (60) of mothers reported to have smoked more than one cigarette per day. Comparing figures to 2003, the smoking habits of mothers increased by five per cent this year.

Twelve women (3 in 2003) admitted smoking between one and three cigarettes per day. A total of 48 (11 in 2003) smoked more than three cigarettes per day. 887 did not smoke while four did not specify. Identical to 2003, no women admitted drinking alcohol. Four did not specify (14 in 2003). No women admitted taking drugs during pregnancy in 2004. One had admitted doing so in 2003, while four did not specify.

Three mothers-to-be were registered as being insulin-dependant diabetic in 2004 while one registered as diabetic but non-insulin-dependent.

There were 12 sets of twins in 2004 and one set of triplets. Of the 967 deliveries, 676 (70 per cent) were normal, 256 (26 per cent) were emergency or caesarean section while 35 (four per cent) were assisted deliveries (breech, ventouse or forceps).

In the first quarter of this year, 877 births were in the weight range of 2,500 to 4,999 grammes and 79 (eight per cent) were in the low birth weight range of 1500 to 2499grammes. One per cent were of very low birth weight (500 to 1499grammes). The average weight was 3,204 grammes in 2004 and 3,192 in 2003. A total of 505 babies were male while 462 were female.

There was only one stillbirth this year, compared to seven last year and there were four early neonatal deaths this year, down from eight last year.