• 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 23.5% (601) of all 2012 perinatal deaths, a decrease from 27.7% (707) in 2011.

Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99) accounted for 21.4% (548) in 2012, compared to 21.7% (554) in 2011.

Respiratory and cardiovascular disorders specific to the perinatal period (P20-P29) accounted for 5.8% of perinatal deaths in 2012 (149), down from 6.7% in 2011 (172).

In 2012, more than a third (1000) 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 968 of the 1,000 perinatal deaths assigned a non-specific cause of death. While 52.8% of all fetal deaths registered in 2012 reported no specific cause, the corresponding figure for neonatal deaths was 4.4%.

7.3 Perinatal deaths(a), Number of deaths by main condition in the fetus/infant and sex(b) - Selected years(c)(d)
		2003			2010(d)			2011(d)(e)			2012(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		1 354	1 126	2 480	1 446	1 163	2 609	1 380	1 173	2 553	1 355	1 203	2 558
Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (P00-P96)		1 039	864	1 903	1 136	923	2 059	1 060	885	1 945	1 035	918	1 953
	Disorders related to length of gestation and fetal growth (P05-P08)	216	187	403	432	321	753	391	316	707	317	284	601
	Respiratory and cardiovascular disorders specific to the perinatal period (P20-P29)	182	193	375	110	71	181	94	78	172	83	66	149
	Other disorders originating in the perinatal period (P90-P96)	492	396	888	500	461	961	471	413	884	556	485	1 041
	Fetal death of unspecified cause (P95)	194	168	362	458	420	878	416	357	773	503	449	952
	Other conditions originating in the perinatal period (P96 )	294	226	520	20	21	41	23	29	52	30	18	48
Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-Q99)		287	231	518	278	232	510	294	260	554	285	263	548
Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified (R00-R99)		8	9	17	6	0	6	1	9	13	11	5	16
(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 where the fetus/infant was of indeterminate sex.
(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: 2010 (final), 2011 (revised), 2012 (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, 2010 and 2011 in this publication. (e) The published neonatal count in this table differs from that previously published for 2011. See Explanatory Note 99 for further details.