LIFESTYLE NEWS - Over one million births were recorded in 2018 with the Department of Home Affairs, according to the latest release by Statistics SA. The report also says that more male than female babies were born in 2018, the ratio being 102 males to 100 females. 

They also observed that the highest proportions of births occurred during the month of March for all the years, followed by September, which is an indication that most conceptions happen during the winter season and December respectively. 

"In 2018, details of fathers were missing in 62,7% of births," says Stats SA.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Plan International, adolescent pregnancies around the world are more likely to occur in marginalised communities, and are mostly caused by poverty and lack of education and employment opportunities. 

"16 Million girls aged 15 to 19 give birth in developing regions, and these births are unintended," says Plan International.

Statistics on teen pregnancies are shocking. Photo: momjunction.com

Stats SA also says births occurring to mothers aged 20 to 34 accounted for 74% of all births in 2018. Current registrations* in 2018 were low amongst teenage mothers, as well as those aged 55 years and older.

The province with the highest recording of births for 2018 were registered in Gauteng (20,9%), followed closely by KwaZulu-Natal at 20,4%. Northern Cape had the lowest proportion at 2,6%.

For the year 2018 in South Africa, 87% of births were registered within 30 days of birth, complying with the legislative requirement. Provincially, Free State (94%) and North West (93%) had the highest proportion of births registered within 30 days after occurrence. KwaZulu-Natal performed the worst with only 75% of births registered within 30 days.

According to the Births and Deaths Registration Amendment Act, a birth must be registered within 30 days of occurrence. However, not all births are registered on time. 

The report shows that late registration of births, after the lapse of 30 days but before a year, declined from 26,7% in 2014 to 14,2% in 2018. Overall, in the 5-year period (2014–2018), there has been a significant improvement in terms of birth registrations within 30 days from 60,1% in 2014 to 79,6% in 2018.

* Registration of births that occurred in the same year.

'We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news'