Official Statistics

Child and maternal health profiles: commentary, May 2026

Published 6 May 2026

Applies to England

What’s new

The following indicators have been updated in the child and maternal health profile:

• children in care, children in care immunisations and the percentage of looked-after children whose emotional wellbeing is a cause for concern
• Attainment 8 and persistent school absentees
• emergency admissions (aged 0 to 4 and under 18)
• emergency admissions for asthma, diabetes and epilepsy (aged under 19)
• emergency admissions for gastroenteritis and lower respiratory tract infections (aged 0 to 4)
• admissions due to unintentional and deliberate injuries (aged 0 to 4, 0 to 14, 15 to 24)
• A&E attendance
• children killed and seriously injured on England’s roads
• deliveries to women and girls aged 12 to 17 and to women aged 35 and above
• deliveries to women from ethnic minority groups
• deliveries by caesarean section
• premature births
• admissions of babies under 14 days

Data has been updated for upper-tier local authorities, regions and England. Data has also been added, where possible, for lower-tier local authorities, integrated care boards (ICBs) and NHS England regions.

Introduction

This commentary concentrates on trends and inequalities in hospital admissions and A&E attendance for children and young people, road traffic accidents and indicators of pregnancy and birth.

Main findings

Looking at emergency hospital admissions in financial year ending 2025 for children and young people:

• those for children aged 0 to 4 years have slightly increased since last year (financial year ending 2024)
• among people aged under 19, those for asthma and diabetes have reduced since last year, admission rates for epilepsy have remained similar
• among children aged 0 to 4 years, those for gastroenteritis have remained broadly similar to last year whereas those for lower respiratory tract infections have increased slightly
• those for unintentional and deliberate injuries have reduced

Looking at childbirth deliveries:

• the percentage of women from ethnic minority groups (excluding White minority groups) has continued to rise and was 31.1% in the financial year ending 2025
• the percentage by caesarean section has continued to increase and was 43.4% in the financial year ending 2025

Hospital admissions for babies under 14 days after birth have continued to rise, increasing from 88.7 per 1,000 population in the financial year ending 2024 to 90.9 in the year ending 2025.

Detailed findings

Hospital admissions

The emergency admission rate for children aged 0 to 4 years has slightly increased since last year (152.5 admissions per 1,000 children in 2024 to 2025 compared with 150.7 in 2023 to 2024). When looking at all children and young people aged under 18 years, there was no noticeable change in the rate when compared with the previous financial year. For both age groups, the lowest rate was in London and the highest in the North East.

The admission rate for children aged 0 to 4 years for gastroenteritis remained broadly similar to the rate in the previous financial year. There was a slight increase in the rate for lower respiratory tract infections. For both conditions the lowest rate was in London and the highest in the North East.

Admission rates for asthma and diabetes have reduced since last year. Rates for epilepsy have remained very similar to last year.

There has been a reduction in the admission rate for unintentional and deliberate injuries for all age groups (0 to 4, 0 to 14 and 15 to 24 years) when compared with the previous year. The lowest rate in all age groups was in London and the highest in the North East.

A&E attendance

Attendances at A&E have increased since last year in both age groups (0 to 4 and 0 to 17) in financial year ending March 2025. The lowest rate of attendances occurred in the South West and the highest in the North East. 

Children killed and seriously injured on England’s roads

The number of children age 0 to 15 years killed and seriously injured has increased from 18.1 per 100,000 in 2020 to 2022 to 19.7 per 100,000 in 2021 to 2023. The highest rates were observed in Yorkshire and the Humber (33.3 per 100,000) and the lowest in London (12.5 per 100,000).

Pregnancy and birth

The percentage of childbirth deliveries to women from ethnic minority groups (excluding White minority groups) increased from 27.9% in the financial year ending 2024 to 31.1% in the year ending 2025.

The percentage of deliveries by caesarean section increased from 40.9% in the financial year ending 2024 to 43.4% in the year ending 2025. The highest percentages were in London, with 45.7% women having their babies delivered by caesarean section.

The percentage of deliveries by mothers aged 35 and older has continued to increase since 2013 to 2014 and now around a quarter of all deliveries (25.2%) are by mothers in this age group.

There has been a slight increase in the rate of premature births: 79.6 per 1,000 during calendar years 2022 to 2024 compared with 78.9 during calendar years 2021 to 2023. The lowest rate was in the South West (74.8 per 1,000) and the highest was in the North West (85.5 per 1,000).

The number of babies admitted back into hospital within 14 days of their birth has continued to rise, with 90.9 per 1,000 admitted in 2024 to 2025 compared with 88.7 per 1,000 in 2023 to 2024. In the financial year ending March 2025, the lowest rate was in London (70.9 per 1,000) and the highest was in Yorkshire and the Humber (107.0 per 1,000).

Note

Two mental health indicators have not been updated in this release:

• hospital admissions for mental health conditions (under 18 years)
• hospital admissions as a result of self-harm (10 to 24 years)

Their purpose is to indicate the level of mental health need in an area. Recent trends and levels of variation between regions and areas suggest that these indicators may no longer offer meaningful information about need and increasingly reflect differences in service provision. We recognise the importance of children and young people’s mental health and so we will review these indicators with stakeholders to consider if they remain good indicators for this topic.

Indicators for hospital admissions for dental caries (0 to 5 years) and for substance misuse (15 to 24 years) have also not been updated. Issues were found in the analysis at a late stage of the quality assurance process.

The Department for Education has published separate commentaries for the following indicators:

• indicators about children in care
• indicators about key stage 4 performance (Attainment 8)
• persistent absentees

These commentaries should be consulted for further information about the interpretation of this data.

For enquiries or feedback about child and maternal health profiles, email pha-ohid@dhsc.gov.uk.