Full Birth Statistics (2009) for Portiuncula Hospital

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	All mothers	First time mothers	2nd & subsequent time mothers
% syntocinon
No. of mothers (whose babies > 500g)	2,192	852	1,340
No. of babies born > 500g	2,222	864	1,358
Onset of Labour
% spontaneous onset of labour	64.7%	64.1%	65.1%
% labour induced	21.5%	27.1%	17.9%
% elective caesarean birth	11.9%	6.9%	15.1%
% pre-labour emergency caesarean birth
Mode of Birth
% spontaneous vaginal birth	53.1%	37.1%	63.4%
% ventouse/vacuum birth	17.4%	29.6%	9.7%
% forceps birth	1.5%	3.5%	0.2%
% total instrumental birth	18.9%	33.1%	9.9%
% unplanned/emergency caesarean birth in labour
% all emergency caesarean birth	16.1%	23.2%	11.6%
% total caesarean birth	28.1%	30.2%	26.7%
Induction Details (% of women whose labour was induced)
% by prostaglandin (PG) only	27.2%
% by artificial rupture of membranes (ARM) only	10.8%
% by syntocinon only (if previous SROM)	11.7%
% by combination: PG + ARM	26.1%
% by combination: PG + ARM + syntocinon	20.4%
% by combination: ARM + syntocinon	3.8%
% by other method
Modes of birth following induction (% of women whose labour was induced)
% spontaneous vaginal birth
% ventouse/vacuum birth
% forceps birth
% caesarean birth
In spontaneous labour (% of women who went into labour spontaneously)
% artificial rupture of membranes (ARM)
% spontaneous vaginal birth
"Normal Birth"
Spontaneous onset of labour, no artificial rupture of membranes, no augmentation, no epidural, no episiotomy, spontaneous vaginal birth.
Normal birth as % of all women attending unit
Normal birth % of women who went into labour spontaneously
Breech Babies
% of breech babies born vaginally	6.3%
% of breech babies born by caesarean birth	93.7%
Twin births
% of twin babies born vaginally	30.0%	0.0%	47.4%
% of twin babies born by caesarean birth	70.0%	100.0%	52.6%
VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Caesarean)
VBAC as % of all mothers who gave birth in the unit	5.1%
% of mothers with one prior caesarean birth who opted to labour
% of mothers with one prior caesarean birth who had a VBAC
% VBAC rate of those who opted to labour
Fetal Monitoring
Approx. 20 min admission trace
Intermittent auscultation during labour
Continuous electronic fetal monitoring – external > 1hr during labour
Continuous electronic fetal monitoring – internal (fetal scalp electrode) > 1 hr during labour
Fetal blood sampling
Pharmacological Pain relief
% use of entonox (gas & air)
% use of epidural / spinal anaesthesia (induced/labouring women only – excluding pre-labour caesarean section)
% use of pethidine / diamorphine
Episiotomy / Tears
% intact perineum	25.8%	25.4%	26.0%
% 1st degree tears	13.7%	8.0%	17.3%
% 2nd degree tears	18.5%	29.7%	11.4%
% 3rd degree tears	0.9%	1.2%	0.7%
% 4th degree tears	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%
% episiotomy – spontaneous vaginal birth
% episiotomy - instrumental birth
% total episiotomy	13.2%	24.9%	5.7%
3rd Stage
% physiological 3rd stage of labour
% actively managed 3rd stage of labour
Breastfeeding
% initiated breastfeeding within 1 hr of birth	53.9%	61.4%	49.1%
% exclusively breastfeeding on discharge	48.8%	52.8%	46.3%
Babies born outside of the unit
% born before arrival (booked for hospital birth but born before reaching hospital)	0.3%	0.0%	0.4%
% births at home with hospital community midwives
Gestational age at birth (from last menstrual period date or by ultrasound scan):
≤ 370 weeks	5.2%	5.9%	4.8%
371 – 380 weeks	69.4%	65.8%	71.7%
381 – 390 weeks
391 – 400 weeks
401 – 410 weeks
411 – 420 weeks	25.6%	28.6%	23.7%
421 – 430 weeks
431 – 440 weeks
≥ 441 weeks

All % data provided here has been calculated by 'bump2babe: The Consumer Guide to Maternity Services in Ireland'. Maternity units provided bump2babe with numbers of mothers for the various categories and we calculated the percentage rates based on the numbers of mothers who gave birth in the unit. We are not responsible for any inaccuracies in the figures given to bump2babe. The guide has highlighted and raised concerns about differences in data recording and reporting abilities in the 22 maternity units in Ireland.