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Public Health Liverpool

Start well

What happens in pregnancy and early childhood impacts on physical and emotional health all the way through to adulthood. Every child in Liverpool should be given the best start in life, with the crucial period starting from pregnancy to the age of two.

As part of our Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, we have developed an interactive dashboard to present key data and insights on the theme of 'Start Well'.

The Start well dashboard focuses on indicators related to child and maternal health, from pregnancy through to children aged five. This tool aims to showcase Liverpool's data in comparison to national and regional averages, highlighting areas for improvement and intervention.

Topics covered

  • Demographics
  • Pregnancy
  • Births
  • Early years development
  • Early years health
  • Vaccinations
  • Local community assets (GPs, schools, nurseries, dentists)
  • Ward level data
  • Tartan rug (overview)
  • Index of Multiple Deprivation

Using the dashboard

The homepage provides an overview of all topics covered. On the left-hand side, you'll find tabs for:

  • Summary page: explains the dashboard's purpose and coverage.
  • Navigation page: guides you through the visuals, buttons, and navigation.
  • Resource page: highlights useful resources and programmes.
  • Appendix: contains data sources and an index.

To explore different topics, select the relevant icon on the dashboard homepage. To navigate between topics, either click the house icon at the top left to return to the homepage or use the navigation arrows at the bottom of the report.

Help with using the dashboard

If you're not sure how to use a Power BI dashboard, guidance is available (the guidance opens in a new page).

Key facts

According to the latest population estimates there are 117,088 children and young people in Liverpool (aged 0-19 years) with 26,421 aged under 5 years. Children and young people account for 23% of the population of Liverpool with a fairly equal distribution of males and females (50.5% males and 49.5% females). Around one in three (33%) children live in relative poverty compared to one in five (22.1%) nationally.

  • In 2024, there were 4,898 live births in Liverpool (ONS, 2025). This means there were 953 fewer births to Liverpool mothers than a decade ago.
  • In Liverpool there are around 26 infant deaths (under 1 year) every year. There were 5.1 infant deaths per thousand live births in 2021 - 23, which was significantly worse than the England rate (4.1 per 1,000).
  • Some 2.5% of live births at term in 2022 had a low birthweight (defined as weighing under 2,500g), which was in line with 2.9% reported nationally.
  • The smoking rate for pregnant women at the time of birth is significantly decreasing. 7.5% of mothers in 2023/24 were known to be smokers at the time of delivery of their baby, in line with nationally (7.4%).
  • In Liverpool around 72.3% of babies have breast milk as their first feed while 46.8% are still breastfeeding at 6-8 weeks (England reports figures of 71.9% and 52.7% respectively).
  • Uptake of routine children’s vaccinations in Liverpool is decreasing with coverage in 2023/24 significantly below national benchmarks.
  • In 2023/24 some 86.1% of two-year-olds in the city had received the ‘6-in-1 vaccine’ (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and hepatitis B) while some 73.4% of 5-year-olds had received two doses of the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccination. England reports figures of 92.4% and 83.9% respectively.
  • In 2024, 1 in 3 (33.3%) children have experienced visually obvious dental decay by the age of five, which is 1.5 times higher than England (22.4%).
  • Around 62% of Liverpool children were ready for school at the end of their school reception year in 2024/24, significantly below the national level (67.7%) and the 7th lowest in England.
  • 1 in 4 (26%) children aged 4-5 years were either overweight or obese in 2023/24, which is significantly above the national level of 22.1%.
  • In 2023/24, 77.3% of working age adults with a learning disability were living in their own home, which was significantly lower than nationally (81.6%).

Liverpool information

Liverpool City Region

Cheshire and Merseyside

Joint Maternity Services Needs Assessment Cheshire and Merseyside 2022

Office for Health Improvement and Disparities profiles