Number and percentage of women who had an initial assessment carried out by 10 completed weeks of pregnancy, by health board providing the service
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Metadata
- High level information
- Weblinks
- Keywords
- Summary information
- Statistical quality information
- Open Data
Title
Number and percentage of women who had an initial assessment carried out by 10 completed weeks of pregnancy, by health board providing the serviceLast update
August 2025Next update
July 2026 (provisional)Publishing organisation
Welsh GovernmentSource 1
Maternity Indicators data setContact email
stats.healthinfo@gov.walesLowest level of geographical disaggregation
Local health boardsGeographical coverage
Local health boardsLanguages covered
English and WelshData licensing
You may use and re-use this data free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government License - see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licenceWeblinks
https://gov.wales/maternity-and-birth-statisticshttps://cwmtaf.wales/welsh-government-announce-decision-on-bridgend-boundary-change/
https://gov.wales/written-statement-health-board-boundary-bridgend-associated-planning
Keywords
maternity; initial assessment; booking;General description
This data is derived from the Maternity Indicators dataset which is provided to the Welsh Government by Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW).The Maternity Indicators dataset was established in 2016. It combines records from a mother’s initial assessment with a child’s birth record and enabled Welsh Government to monitor its initial set of outcome indicators and performance measures (Maternity Indicators) which were established to measure the effectiveness and quality of Welsh maternity services.
The Maternity Indicators dataset allows us to analyse characteristics of the mother’s pregnancy and birth process. The process for producing this data extract is complex largely because there can be multiple initial assessment data and records for both initial assessments and births are not always complete.
Full details of every data item available in the Maternity Indicators dataset are available through the NHS Wales Data Dictionary: http://www.datadictionary.wales.nhs.uk/#!WordDocuments/datasetstructure20.htm
Gestational age is based on the best estimate available for when pregnancy started, based on either date of last menstrual period or from an ultrasound scan
Data collection and calculation
Data from the Maternity Indicators dataset only includes initial assessment data where the initial assessment and birth both occurred in the same health board, in Wales only.Data should include all hospital births and some home births; however, due to the way data is recorded, we are unable to distinguish between home and hospital births in some health boards. Births to Welsh resident mothers who gave birth in England or in any other country outside of Wales are not included in the data.
Data for each calendar year refers to when the baby was born for both birth and initial assessment statistics. Initial assessments may have taken place in the previous year but would be counted in the year in which the birth occurred. This ensures data throughout a single pregnancy is recorded in the same year.
Some women may have had their first initial assessment before the date that has been recorded in the Maternity Indicators dataset. This is because the merging methodology for the initial assessment and birth record is based on when these occur in the same health board.
It is possible that a mother could have an initial assessment in one health board, early in the pregnancy, but then if she gives birth in another health board for any reason (for example, unexpected complications, or present in a different health board area at the time) she will have another initial assessment recorded at the second health board where she gives birth. This may explain the small peak around 39 and 40 weeks.
A small proportion of initial assessments (1%) were recorded between 39 and 40 weeks, possibly accounting for mothers who had their initial assessment in one health board, early in the pregnancy, but gave birth in another health board resulting in another initial assessment being recorded at the time of birth.
The percentage of women who received their initial assessment by 10 completed weeks of pregnancy is based on all records minus records with a ‘not stated’ value for gestational age at initial assessment. ‘Not stated’ also includes records where the gestation was stated as 0 weeks. The number of records removed from the calculation can be found in Table 4 of the Maternity and birth statistics: quality report tables (https://www.gov.wales/maternity-and-birth-statistics-quality-report )
Frequency of publication
AnnualData reference periods
2016-2024Users, uses and context
These statistics will be used in a variety of ways. Some examples of these are:• advice to Ministers
• to inform debate in the Welsh Parliament and beyond
• to make publicly available data on child health statistics in Wales
• monitoring service delivery
• policy development
• providing advice on birth choices
The main users are:
• Ministers, policy officials and the Members Research Service
• local health boards
• the public
• the research community
• students, academics and universities
• Public Health Wales and other NHS organisations
• voluntary birth organisations.
Rounding applied
No rounding appliedRevisions information
The Maternity Indicators dataset is a live database, meaning health boards can amend data for any period. For this data, DHCW take data extracts from a single point in time, for the latest calendar year. This means that if data extracts are taken for previous time periods, they may differ to the data which is published as it may have been revised by health boards. Welsh Government will not make revisions to historical data unless errors are discovered.Statistical quality
From 1st April 2019 health service provision for residents of Bridgend local authority moved from Abertawe Bro Morgannwg to Cwm Taf. For more information see the joint statement from Cwm Taf and Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Boards (see weblinks). The health board names have changed with Cwm Taf University Health Board becoming Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board and Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board becoming Swansea Bay University Health Board.Data for Abertawe Bro Morgannwg and Cwm Taf are available for previous years in this table by selecting the tick boxes in the Area drop-down box.
More detailed information on the sources of data and analyses in this statistical release are provided in the quality report: https://www.gov.wales/maternity-and-birth-statistics-quality-report
