Facts and figures

Statistics on births in England

Number of live births in England in each year since 1997

1997     609,513
1998     603,293
1999     590,524
2000     573,832
2001     564,871
2002     566,691
2003     590,900
2004     608,347
2005     614,237
2006     635,679
2007     655,357
2008     672,807*

* This was up 17,450 or 2.7 per cent from the previous year,  and up 109,063 or 19.3 per cent since the start of the baby boom in 2001.

 
Source: Office of National Statistics

Source: The national and regional figures for 2008 are available online at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/Table_5.xls.

Number of full-time-equivalent midwives in the NHS in England since 1997

1997   18,053
1998   18,168
1999   17,876
2000   17,662
2001   18,048
2002   18,119
2003   18,444
2004   18,854
2005   18,949
2006   18,862
2007   19,298
2008   19,639

Source: NHS Hospital and Community Health Services, non-medical staff, England, 1996-2006, published by The Information Centre.

Source:  Office of National Statistics and the NHS' annual staffing survey.