Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Subiaco, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
PLoS One. 2012;7(11):e48885. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0048885. Epub 2012 Nov 7.
The Australian baby bonus maternity payment introduced in 2004 has been reported to have successfully increased fertility rates in Australia. We aimed to investigate the influence of the baby bonus on maternal demographics and birth characteristics in Western Australia (WA).
This study included 200,659 birth admissions from WA during 2001-2008, identified from administrative birth and hospital data-systems held by the WA Department of Health. We estimated average quarterly birth rates after the baby bonus introduction and compared them with expected rates had the policy not occurred. Rate and percentage differences (including 95% confidence intervals) were estimated separately by maternal demographics and birth characteristics. WA birth rates increased by 12.8% following the baby bonus implementation with the greatest increase being in mothers aged 20-24 years (26.3%, 95%CI = 22.0,30.6), mothers having their third (1.6%, 95%CI = 0.9,2.4) or fourth child (2.2%, 95%CI = 2.1,2.4), mothers living in outer regional and remote areas (32.4%, 95%CI = 30.2,34.6), mothers giving birth as public patients (1.5%, 95%CI = 1.3,1.8), and mothers giving birth in public hospitals (3.5%, 95%CI = 2.6,4.5). Interestingly, births to private patients (-4.3%, 95%CI = -4.8,-3.7) and births in private hospitals (-6.3%, 95%CI = -6.8,-5.8) decreased following the policy implementation.
The introduction of the baby bonus maternity payment may have served as an incentive for women in their early twenties and mothers having their third or fourth child and may have contributed to the ongoing pressure and staff shortages in Australian public hospitals, particularly those in outer regional and remote areas.
2004 年引入的澳大利亚婴儿奖金生育津贴据报道成功提高了澳大利亚的生育率。我们旨在调查婴儿奖金对西澳大利亚州（WA）产妇人口统计学和生育特征的影响。
这项研究包括 2001-2008 年期间从 WA 的行政出生和医院数据系统中确定的 200659 例分娩入院病例。我们估计了婴儿奖金推出后的季度平均出生率，并将其与政策未实施时的预期率进行了比较。根据产妇人口统计学和生育特征，分别估计了率和百分比差异（包括 95%置信区间）。在婴儿奖金实施后，WA 的出生率增加了 12.8%，其中增幅最大的是 20-24 岁的母亲（26.3%，95%CI=22.0，30.6）、生育第三（1.6%，95%CI=0.9，2.4）或第四胎的母亲（2.2%，95%CI=2.1，2.4）、居住在偏远地区的母亲（32.4%，95%CI=30.2，34.6）、作为公共病人分娩的母亲（1.5%，95%CI=1.3，1.8）和在公立医院分娩的母亲（3.5%，95%CI=2.6，4.5）。有趣的是，私人患者的分娩（-4.3%，95%CI=-4.8，-3.7）和私人医院的分娩（-6.3%，95%CI=-6.8，-5.8）在政策实施后减少。
婴儿奖金生育津贴的引入可能成为激励 20 多岁的女性和生育第三或第四胎的母亲的一种激励措施，可能导致澳大利亚公立医院，特别是偏远地区的公立医院持续面临压力和人员短缺。
