Key Points

• The proportion of women under 20 who gave birth in 2024 in Réunion (5.7%) was three times higher than in France (1.8%).
• The proportion of women who gave birth in Réunion and were recipients of State Medical Aid (AME) or C2S was four times higher (48.2%) than in France (17.4%), suggesting that a significant number of pregnant women were living in precarious circumstances.
• The prevalence of women who were overweight before pregnancy (46.2% in 2024) and those with pre-existing diabetes (2.07% in 2024) is on the rise in Réunion, as it is throughout France.
• The proportion of women who smoked one year before their pregnancy (29.4%) is higher in Réunion than that observed in France as a whole in 2021 (26.8%). However, in the third trimester of pregnancy (8.7%), the proportion of women who smoke is lower than that observed for France as a whole (11.9%).
• In 2021, 87.0% of women attempted to breastfeed their babies; 81.4% were able to establish mixed or exclusive breastfeeding in the maternity ward; and at 2 months of age, 66.0% of infants were being fed through mixed or exclusive breastfeeding.
• In 2021, 15.2% of newborns were hospitalized or transferred at birth, a rate close to that of France as a whole (11.5%).
• Only 75.8% of infants are consistently placed on their backs two months after birth, and 32.7% are primarily placed in their parents’ bed (a risky practice).
• The maternal mortality rate reached 18.1 deaths per 100,000 live births between 2013 and 2018, a higher regional rate than that observed in France (11.1 deaths per 100,000).