Core Aim 1 - Have a flying start in life and the best possible basis for their future growth and development

Many of the problems experienced by children and young people in their early years and throughout their lives can be prevented through interventions at the earliest stages of their life and, in some cases, during pregnancy. Effective help and support at this stage is nearly always easier and cheaper than dealing with problems later in life

There is clear evidence that the behaviour and lifestyle of a child’s mother has long-term impacts on outcomes for children in later life. The best measure of this is birth weight, which is one of the key indicators of the outcome of pregnancy. Babies born with a low birth weight as result of being born too soon or too small are at greatest risk of having immediate and long-term health problems. The smallest babies are the most likely to die in the first weeks and months of life. They are also the most likely to have health problems in childhood, adolescence and as adults.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines birth weight as ‘the first weight of the foetus or newborn obtained after birth’ and low birth weight is described as a weight of less than 2,500gr for a singleton baby.

Analysis of ONS data for the period 1991-2000 shows a direct link between the circumstances of a child’s parents and it’s birth weight:

·        Babies of both sexes born to fathers in non-manual occupations are heavier than those with fathers in manual occupations. Babies born to sole registered mothers had the lowest birth weight of all categories, those born to married couples had the highest birth weight

·        When considering the age of the mother, the incidence of low birth weight babies is highest among those born to mothers in their teens.

·        When mapped against deprivation, low birth weight babies are most common in the most deprived areas.

There is such a close association between low birth weight and socio-economic deprivation that it is often used as a general measure of the level of disadvantage in a community

Two of the main contributing health factors towards low birth weight are poor diet and smoking during pregnancy.

Smoking is the major modifiable risk factor contributing to low birth weight. Babies born to women who smoke weigh on average 200g less than babies born to non-smokers. The incidence of low birth weight is twice as high among smokers as non-smokers. Smoking cessation in pregnancy is strongly affected by socio-economic status, with women of lower education, income and employment status far more likely to continue smoking than women from higher SES groups. Smoking in pregnancy is four times more prevalent among women in households in social class V than those in social class I. Teenage mothers are the most likely of all age groups to smoke in pregnancy – almost a half of women who fall pregnant before their 20^th birthday smoke during pregnancy.

The relationship between pregnancy, nutrition and foetal growth is complex. However, there is now retrospective and prospective evidence that poor maternal nutritional status at conception and inadequate maternal nutrition during pregnancy can result in low birth weight.

Live Births in Merthyr Tydfil

The number of live births in Merthyr Tydfil in 2005 was 643. If Merthyr’s low birth weight rate is applied to this figure, it means that roughly 60 babies that year were classified as having low birth weight. The rate has been calculated over a six-year period, which if applied to the time scale of the table above, suggests that around 650 babies have been born with a low birth weight in the past decade.

Children born between 2002 and 2004 in Merthyr have the lowest life expectancy of any Local Health Board in Wales. Both boys and girls have an expectancy rate around 2.8% below the national average.

Life expectancy at birth 2002-04

                    Merthyr            Wales average      Highest in Wales

Males               73.8                  75.9                  78.0 (Monmouthshire)

Females           78.1                   80.3                 81.6 (Ceredigion)