Civometry

What we can't tell you · Not collected

How many births are there by religion of the mother, and by ethnicity of the mother?

Not collected No authority records the information in the first place, so no request can produce it.

Why

Birth registration in England and Wales records the country of birth of each parent and not their religion or ethnicity; ONS states that ethnicity "is not collected at birth registration". ONS publishes births by parents' country of birth annually by local authority. Ethnicity of the baby (as stated by the mother) is obtained by ONS through linkage to NHS birth notifications for analysis, and NHS England's Maternity Services Data Set carries mother's ethnicity at provider level.

What is known

What is not known

  • Religion of the mother (not recorded anywhere in registration or health data)
  • Ethnicity of the mother by local authority (health data is by provider)

Who holds the data

  • ONS and the General Register Office (registration)
  • NHS England (Maternity Services Data Set, birth notifications)

Would a Freedom of Information request help?

Unlikely. Religion is not recorded at registration or in maternity data; ethnicity by local authority would be a bespoke NHS linkage, not a held table.

Privacy and disclosure restrictions

NHS maternity statistics suppress small cells. ONS linked outputs are research-grade and not official statistics.

Official sources checked

Last reviewed 2026-09-02. Availability changes; if a publication now answers this question, challenge the classification below.

Challenge this statistic

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