Abstract
BackgroundTo determine the rates of birth registration over a five-year period in New South Wales (NSW) and explore the factors associated with the rate of registration.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study using linked population databases. The study population included all births of NSW residents in NSW between 2001 and 2005.ResultsBirth registration rates in NSW were 82.66% in the year of birth, 93.19% in the first year, 94.02% in the second, 94.56% in the third and 95.08% in the fourth year after birth. The non-registration of births was mainly associated with such factors as neonatal and postneonatal death (adjusted OR = 3.84, 95% CI: 3.23-4.57); being Indigenous (adjusted OR = 3.26, 95% CI: 3.10-3.43); maternal age <25 or >39 years (adjusted OR = 2.81, 95% CI: 2.72-2.90); low birthweight (<2,500 grams) (adjusted OR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.69-1.90); living in remote areas (adjusted OR = 1.57, 95% CI: 1.52-1.63); being born after the first quarter of year (adjusted OR = 1.08-1.56, 95% CI between 1.03-1.12 and 1.49-1.64); mother having more pregnancies (adjusted OR = 1.85-7.29, 95% CI between1.78-1.93 and 6.87-7.73). Mothers who were born overseas were more likely to register their births than those born in Australia (adjusted OR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.69-0.75). Multiple births were more likely to be registered than singleton births (adjusted OR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.76-0.92). About one-third of the non-registrations of births in NSW were explained by the risk factors. The reasons for the remaining non-registrations need to be investigated.ConclusionOf birth in NSW, 4.92% were not registered by the fourth year after birth.
Highlights
To determine the rates of birth registration over a five-year period in New South Wales (NSW) and explore the factors associated with the rate of registration
Identifying information such as name, address, date of birth and gender obtained from the Midwives Data Collections (MDC) baby and RBDM birth datasets is included in the Master Linkage Key which is constructed by the Centre for Health Record Linkage (CHeReL)
Mothers who were born overseas were more likely to register their births than those born in Australia
Summary
For NSW residents, there were 427,134 live born babies between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2005. Babies from the risk groups accounted for 46.54% (198,761) of all live births, but accounted for 63.09% (22,091) of the non-registered births. The cumulative birth registration rates of babies born in 2001 are shown in Figures 1 and 2. The registration rates in the non-risk group were higher than in the risk group. The risk factors can explain 35.00% (1,636) of non-registered births in 2001 (1,636/4,674). Factors that were significantly associated with non-registration included: neonatal or postneonatal birth, being Indigenous, maternal age 39 years, gestational age 41 weeks, low birthweight, not born in the first quarter of year, mother had previous pregnancies, and living in remote areas. In addition to the nine factors which are significantly associated with nonregistration of births in Table 2, multiple births were more likely to be registered compared with singleton births after controlling the nine factors
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