Recording medical and socio-medical data at birth provides important information about the course of birth as well as the health status of newborns, which have a decisive influence on the chances of survival in the first months as well as on future health. Indicators such as caesarean or preterm birth rates and growth indicators can be calculated.
The legal basis for birth statistics is the Civil Status Act as well as the Midwives Act, which specifies all the characteristics to be reported by the midwife at a birth. The statistics on the medical characteristics of births refer only to births to mothers whose main residence is in Austria and which occurred in Austria.