Glossary:Birth
A birth is defined as the start of life when a child emerges from the body of its mother. The total number of births includes both live births and stillbirths.
A live birth is the birth of a child who showed any sign of life; the number of live births refers to the number of births excluding stillbirths.
A stillbirth is the expulsion or extraction from the mother of a dead foetus after the time at which it would normally be presumed capable of independent extra-uterine existence (outside the uterus or womb). This is commonly taken to be after 24 or 28 weeks of gestation (the time from a child's conception to its birth).
A live birth outside marriage is a live birth where the mother’s marital status at the time of birth is other than married.
The crude birth rate is the ratio of the number of births during the year to the average population in that year; the value is expressed per 1 000 inhabitants.
Further information
- Fertility (ESMS metadata file — demo_fer_esms)