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.
• In 2010, there were 12.3 therapeutic abortions per 1000 women aged 15-44 years.
• The stillbirth rate in 2010 was 4.9 per 1000 total births.
• There has been a marked rise in multiple births in recent years; in 2010, 1.6% of maternities were multiple.
• In 2010/11, 26.5% of babies in Scotland were exclusively breastfed at 6-8 weeks (the government target for 2010/11 was 32.7%).

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