The health of a woman is an important factor in pregnancy, as we know from evidence that in general, healthy women have healthy babies. There are many lifestyle factors relating to the physical and emotional well-being of a woman during pregnancy. For example, maintaining a healthy diet and taking regular exercise are known to be beneficial to the health of the woman and the baby. Medical care is also important during pregnancy and through regular antenatal care and screening, the health of the woman and the baby can be monitored.

There are also factors associated with risk to the health of the mother and baby e.g. smoking, alcohol, drug abuse, age and deprivation. Maternal smoking can influence the health of a woman and can influence the risk of having a low birth weight baby. Another important factor is the rising proportion of births to older women. Older maternal age may be associated with pre-existing ill health, low fertility, complications of pregnancy and an increased risk of adverse outcomes, including stillbirths and congenital anomalies. Statistics on both maternal smoking and age can be found here on our website. Alcohol and drug misuse are also known risk behaviours and information on the health impact of drug misuse is available online.

This section of Scottish Health Statistics presents information on a variety of topics relevant to Pregnancy in Scotland.  Click here or on the links in the left-handside menu to find more information about Pregnancy in Scotland.