• Summary
• Downloads
• Explanatory Notes
• Related Information
• Past Releases

MAIN CONDITION IN FETUS/INFANT

Disorders related to length of gestation and fetal growth (P05-P08) accounted for 27.5% (705) of all 2011 perinatal deaths, a slight decrease from 28.9% (753) in 2010.

Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99) accounted for 21.8% (559) in 2011, compared to 19.5% (510) in 2010.

Respiratory and cardiovascular disorders specific to the perinatal period (P20-P29) accounted for 6.6% of perinatal deaths in 2011 (169), down slightly from 7.0% in 2010 (182).

In 2011, under a third (834) of all perinatal deaths were assigned a non-specific cause of death in the fetus/infant (Fetal death of unspecified cause (P95), and Other conditions originating in the perinatal period (P96)). Most of these were fetal deaths, representing 774 of the 834 perinatal deaths assigned a non-specific cause of death. While 44.3% of all fetal deaths registered in 2011 reported no specific cause, the corresponding figure for neonatal deaths was 7.4%.

7.3 Perinatal deaths(a), Number of deaths by main condition in the fetus/infant and sex(b) - Selected years(c)(d)
		2002			2009(d)			2010(d)			2011(d)
Cause of death and ICD-10 code		Males(b)	Female	Persons	Males(b)	Female	Persons	Males(b)	Female	Persons	Males(b)	Female	Persons
Total Deaths		1 340	1 135	2 475	1 470	1 201	2 671	1 446	1 163	2 609	1 384	1 178	2 562
Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (P00-P96)		1 038	864	1 902	1 177	1 012	2 189	1 135	923	2 058	1 061	888	1 949
	Disorders related to length of gestation and fetal growth (P05-P08)	203	181	384	442	395	837	432	321	753	391	314	705
	Respiratory and cardiovascular disorders specific to the perinatal period (P20-P29)	212	176	488	106	71	177	110	72	182	91	78	169
	Other disorders originating in the perinatal period (P90-P96)	469	381	850	553	484	1 037	499	460	959	475	418	893
	Fetal death of unspecified cause (P95)	177	153	330	517	447	964	458	420	878	416	358	774
	Other conditions originating in the perinatal period (P96 )	270	207	477	20	17	37	19	21	40	27	33	60
Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99)		268	239	507	276	172	448	278	232	510	296	263	559
Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99)		8	6	14	1	6	7	8	0	8	6	9	15
(a) Perinatal deaths are all fetal deaths (at least 20 weeks' gestation or at least 400 grams birth weight) plus all neonatal deaths (death of a live born baby within 28 days of birth). See Glossary for further information.
(b) Male deaths include those perinatal deaths of sex indeterminate.
(c) Data cells with small values have been randomly assigned to protect the confidentiality of individuals. As a result, some totals will not equal the sum of their components. Cells with a zero value have not been affected by confidentialisation.
(d) All causes of death data from 2006 onward are subject to a revisions process - once data for a reference year are 'final', they are no longer revised. Affected data in this table are: 2006-2009 (final), 2010 (revised), 2011 (preliminary). See Explanatory Notes 29-33 and Technical Notes, Causes of Death Revisions, 2006 in Causes of Death, Australia, 2010 and Causes of Death Revisions, 2009 and 2010 in this publication.