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This statistic offers you an insight into the distribution of women who gave birth in France in 2021, according to the gestational age at the delivery of the baby. That year, half of the women who had a child gave birth at the **** or **** week of pregnancy. Just over ** percent of women gave birth after 41 weeks of pregnancy.

History of childbirth in France

Childbirth in medical settings in France developed in the and , particularly in large cities. This evolution was made possible by medical progress, but also by the assistance the State had put in place for women living in precarious conditions to increase the birth rate, which had suffered a sharp decline during the . By the post-World War II baby boom, births in medical settings had become the majority. While this normalization of medical childbirth in France helped reduce infant mortality at the time of delivery to almost zero and ensures effective care for newborns, childbirth remains a very concerning moment for young mothers, and premature births with all the medical risks involved can be particularly worrying. However, as the graph above indicates, few births are premature. Moreover, in France, most premature births are twin births.

Parenthood and birth rate in France

French women are having children increasingly later. In 2021, nearly half of them were pregnant after age **. Most say they are satisfied with this situation and few would have wished for a child earlier. This may be related to the fact that many women pursue studies or work before having children. In fact, the majority of women work full-time during their pregnancy, with employment until the end of pregnancy for ** percent of them. France ranks among the European countries with the highest birth rate.

France ranks among the European countries with the highest birth rate. The country manages to maintain a birth rate of nearly *** children per woman. However, this rate has been declining over the years, to which President Emmanuel Macron has responded with a "demographic rearmament" program. A relatively high birth rate is necessary to maintain demographic balance. Without it, the population ages, which poses problems, notably in terms of labor shortages and resources to finance the retirement system. For more information on this subject, feel free to consult our page on demography in France.