Almost one third of children born in Westmeath are to unmarried parents, according to the latest data from the Central Statistics Office.
The figures, released this week for the second quarter of 2008, show that of the 384 births registered in Westmeath during this period, 124, or 32 per cent, were to unmarried parents, and the remaining 260, or 68 per cent, to married parents.
Of the unmarried parents, 72 newborns were recorded as having ‘unmarried parents living at the same address’.
Just nine of the births recorded were to women under the age of 20. The majority of the children were born to women aged between 30 and 34. In fact, the average age of mothers giving birth in Westmeath was 30.9, while the average age of first-time mothers was 28.4.
And it seems girls are set to outnumber the boys in the classes of the future. Of the total 384 births registered in the county during the period, 173 were male and 211 female.
Overall, the figures indicate that at 18.6 per cent, Westmeath’s birth rate is slightly higher than the national average of 17.2 per cent.
Westmeath was one of just a handful of counties to register no infant or neonatal deaths during the second quarter of 2008.
In total there were 149 deaths registered in the county during the period. The most common cause of death was found to be diseases of the circulatory system, closely followed by malignant neoplasms, and then diseases of the respiratory system. Nine people died of ‘external causes’.
Overall, births have increased by 11 per cent in the past year nationally, and have shot up by 40 per cent since 1999.
