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.
According to the latest population estimates there are 110,000 children and young people in Liverpool (aged 0-19 years) with 26,300 aged under 5 years. Children and young people account for 22.7% of the population of Liverpool with a fairly equal distribution of males and females (50.5% males and 49.5% females).
Key facts
- In 2021, there were 5,364 live births in Liverpool (ONS, 2023). This means there were 513 fewer births to Liverpool mothers than a decade ago.
- In Liverpool there are around 26 infant deaths (under 1 year) every year. There were 4.8 infant deaths per thousand live births in 2019 - 21, which was not significantly different to the England rate (3.9 per 1,000).
- Some 2.4% of live births at term in 2021 had a low birthweight (defined as weighing under 2500g), which was in line with 2.8% reported nationally.
- The smoking rate for pregnant women at the time of birth is decreasing. 1 in 10 mothers in 2021/22 were known to be smokers at the time of delivery of their baby, compared with 1 in 11 nationally.
- In 2020/21 61.2% of babies in Liverpool had breast milk as their first feed while only 41.3% were still breastfeeding at 6-8 weeks (England reported figures of 71.7% and 49.2% respectively).
- Uptake of routine children’s vaccinations in Liverpool is decreasing with coverage in 2021/22 significantly below national benchmarks. Some 88.6% of two-year-olds in the city were vaccinated for Dtap/IPV/Hib while some 76.5% of 5-year-olds had received 2 doses of the MMR vaccination. England reported figures of 93.0% and 85.7% respectively.
- Liverpool has a high rate of admissions for tooth decay in children aged 0-5 years, 2.5 times higher than England.
- In 2021/22 only 60.5% of Liverpool children were ready for school at the end of their school reception year, significantly below the national level (67.1%) and the 8th lowest in the country.
- 26.1% of our children aged 4-5 years are either overweight or obese, which is significantly above the national average of 22.3%.
Liverpool information
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Infant mortality
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Liverpool City Region
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Children and young people health and wellbeing profile 2020 - LCR
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First published: 26/02/2021
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Office for Health Improvement and Disparities profiles
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Mental health in pregnancy, the post natal period and babies
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