More mums-to-be accessing care during pregnancy

Australia's birth rate is down to 52 babies per 1000 women, with the average age of mothers rising. (Jane Dempster/AAP PHOTOS)

Expectant Australian mothers are older on average and accessing more antenatal care compared to a decade ago, with birth rates falling to the lowest since records began.

In 2023, 79 per cent of women who gave birth accessed antenatal care in their first trimester of pregnancy, a report on mothers and babies by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) found.