Child and maternal health

Child mortality rates have fallen dramatically over the last few centuries.

As you can see in the chart, in the 1840s, around one in four children in the UK died before their fifth birthday. Today, it's fewer than one in 200: 0.47% of babies born in 2024.

Infant mortality is the share of babies who die in their first year of life.

In the chart, you can see infant mortality rates since 1980. This fell from 12 per 1,000 in 1980 to 3.9 per 1,000 today. Over the past decade, this decline has mostly stalled.

The chart also shows two other lines: the share who die in the first month (28 days) and the share in the following 11 months (up to one year).

Most infant deaths happen in the first month of life (the neonatal period).

How do rates compare across the four nations in the UK?

Infant mortality is similar, at between 3 and 5 deaths per 1,000 live births. Northern Ireland's rate has been higher than the other nations' in most years.

Because Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have relatively few births, their rates rise and fall more from year to year.

Infant mortality varies a lot across the UK. You can see these differences in the map.

In 2022–2024, it was highest in Birmingham, at 8.6 per 1,000 live births, more than twice the average for England.

The West Midlands has the highest rate of any English region, at 5.9 per 1,000, more than twice the rate in the South West (2.7).

You can compare rates for any authority by switching to the "bar" tab in the chart.

Infant mortality rates are higher in poorer areas.

The chart shows infant mortality rates in the ten income deciles (from most deprived to least).

In England in 2024, infant mortality in the most deprived tenth of areas was 6 per 1,000 live births, more than twice the rate in the least deprived tenth (2.6).

Infant mortality rates also vary a lot based on ethnicity.

As you can see in the chart, rates among babies of Pakistani, Black Caribbean and Black African ethnicity tend to be higher than those of other ethnicities.

Rates were more than twice the rate for White British babies.

After the first year of life, deaths among children are much rarer. Child mortality rates have also fallen dramatically over time.

In the chart, you can see death rates among children of different ages. Among 1 to 4-year-olds, rates in England and Wales have fallen by around 80% since 1980.

A stillbirth is when a baby is born with no signs of life at 24 weeks of pregnancy or later.

You can see changes in the stillbirth rate in England and Wales in the chart.

Note that in 1993, this definitional threshold changed; previously, a stillbirth was defined based on no signs of life at 28 weeks of pregnancy or later. This means rates before and after this change are not comparable.

Like infant deaths, stillbirths vary by ethnicity. Rates are higher among Black and Asian babies.

In 2022–2024, the rate for Black African babies was 6.3 per 1,000 births, almost twice that for White British babies (3.3).

The most common cause of death among babies is pre-term birth: 42% of infant deaths in England and Wales in 2024 were from conditions related to being born too early. Congenital anomalies — conditions present from birth, such as heart defects — caused another 31%.

Among babies who die after their first four weeks, congenital anomalies and sudden infant death are the most common causes.

In more than a third of stillbirths, the cause is not known.

Problems with the placenta are the most common known cause, accounting for 34% of stillbirths in 2024.

Among children aged 1 to 15, cancer is the most common cause of death, accounting for 27% of deaths in 2024.

Injuries and other external causes, such as accidents, account for 14%.

Between 2022 and 2024, 252 women in the UK died during pregnancy or within six weeks of its end from causes related to the pregnancy. That's a rate of 13 for every 100,000 women giving birth.

Maternal mortality fell to a low of 8.5 per 100,000 in 2012 to 2014, but has risen since. Part of the recent rise was due to COVID-19.

In the chart you can switch between rates per 100,000 women, and the total number of maternal deaths.

Blood clots and heart disease are the leading causes of maternal death. Together, they were responsible for around a third of deaths in 2022 to 2024.

Like child and infant mortality, maternal mortality rates vary a lot by ethnicity.

Black women in England are almost three times as likely to die during or shortly after pregnancy as White women.

Women living in the most deprived fifth of areas in England are about twice as likely to die as those in the least deprived fifth.

Almost half of babies in England are now delivered by caesarean section: 45% of deliveries in 2025, up from 9% in 1980.

The share has risen quickly in recent years, from 34% in 2021. In 2025, for the first time, more babies were delivered by caesarean (45%) than by spontaneous vaginal birth (44%), though vaginal births including those assisted with forceps or ventouse were still more common (55%).

Rates of caesarean section are similar across all four nations in the UK.

In the latest year, 45% of births in England were by caesarean, 44% in Scotland, 42% in Wales and 40% in Northern Ireland.

Older mothers are much more likely to give birth by caesarean. In England in 2025, 29% of mothers under 20 had a caesarean, compared to 58% of those aged 40 to 44.

Black and Asian mothers are also more likely to have an emergency caesarean than White mothers. The share of births by caesarean differs little by how deprived an area is, but mothers in richer areas are more likely to have a planned caesarean.

In most areas of the UK, at least one-third of births are now delivered by caesarean section.

In the map, you can see C-section rates by local authority. Rates are lowest in the North East of England, at 36% of deliveries in 2025, and highest in London, at 46%.

The UK has one of the highest infant mortality rates among rich countries. Of the 23 countries in the chart, only the United States and Canada had higher rates in 2024.

The UK's rate of 4.1 per 1,000 live births was more than twice that of Japan, Finland, Sweden or Norway.

The UK's stillbirth rate is around the middle of comparable countries.

These international figures count stillbirths from 28 weeks of pregnancy, so they are lower than the UK's own statistics.

Maternal mortality in the UK is higher than in most other rich countries.

In 2023, the UK's rate was 8.3 per 100,000 live births, compared to fewer than 3 in Norway, Poland and Australia, and 17 in the United States.

The UK has one of the highest rates of caesarean births among rich countries.

At around 40% of births, it's more than twice the rate in the Netherlands and Norway (16%).

Using the "line" tab on the chart, you can see how rates across different countries have changed over time.

Infant and child deaths come from death registrations, published by the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales, National Records of Scotland and NISRA for Northern Ireland. Rates are per 1,000 live births.

Stillbirths are registered separately. The legal definition changed in 1992, from 28 to 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Maternal deaths come from MBRRACE-UK, which identifies every maternal death in the UK from several sources and reviews each one. Because the numbers are small, figures are published for three-year periods.

Caesarean births come from hospital records, published separately by each UK nation.

International comparisons use estimates from the UN and the OECD, which apply the same methods to every country, so they can differ from the UK's own statistics.