Healthy Child Programme: final report
3.2.1. Birth Details
Following the consultation the project team recommend that the following headings and definitions are used to record details about the birth.
| Birth details (these will be obtained from maternity records) | |
| Maternal problems in pregnancy | Maternal medical conditions or infectious diseases arising in pregnancy which may have an impact on the foetus, e.g. gestational diabetes, rubella etc. |
| Foetal problems diagnosed before birth | Problems with the foetus diagnosed with screening or ultrasound e.g. Down syndrome, congenital heart disease etc. |
| Length of gestation | Gestational age in weeks and days (usually equivalent to length of pregnancy). |
| Type of delivery | Type of delivery for the baby, e.g. vacuum extraction, breech extraction, elective caesarean section etc. |
| Type(s) of delivery (attempted) | The type(s) of delivery for the baby that was attempted, but was not the final delivery method. |
| Problems during delivery | Problems experienced by the baby during delivery e.g. cord prolapse, meconium aspiration, foetal distress etc. |
| Birth order | The sequence in which this baby was born (one of one, one of two etc). |
| Multiple birth | Where the baby is one of a multiple birth, to include the total number of offspring and to include whether the baby is identical to one of the siblings. |
| Birth weight | Numeric value for weight at birth. |
| Location of birth | The place of birth (including the address and organisation name where relevant). |
| Delivery place type | The type of place in which the baby was born (e.g. private health facility, domestic address, NHS hospital, midwifery led unit etc.) |
| Neonatal resuscitation | Details of neonatal resuscitation measures required, e.g. chest compression, oxygen mask etc. |
| Spontaneous respiration | The length of time between delivery of the baby and the time spontaneous respiration began. |
| Put to breast | Whether or not the baby was put to the breast. |
| APGAR score | A set of observations made on the baby following birth to check adaptation to life outside the womb. |
| Physical problems detected at birth | Physical problems identified with the baby at, or shortly after, birth. E.g. cleft lip/palate, extensive bruising, cephalohaematoma etc. |
Page last updated: 27 March 2026