Pregnancy and births: key points

• In Scotland, as in many other western European countries, women are tending to start their reproductive lives later. 
• It is thought that approximately one-third of all conceptions are miscarried. The miscarriage may not be recorded or even recognised by the woman. 
• 18% of all known conceptions in Scotland are therapeutically aborted. 
• The stillbirth rate in 2006 was 5.3 per 1,000 total births. 
• There has been a marked rise in multiple births in recent years; in 2006, 1.6% of maternities were multiple. 
• In 2006/07, only 26.6% of babies in Scotland were exclusively breastfed at 6-8 weeks, compared with the 2010/11 target of 33.3%.

Note: teenage pregnancies and therapeutic abortions are covered in the Sexual health section of this website.