A total of 4,093 babies were born in the province of Catanduanes in 2022, the Philippine Statistical Authority (PSA) reported last week.
In its special release on preliminary birth statistics for the island, the PSA Catanduanes Provincial Statistical Office stated that of the total births, 2,112 or 51.6% are male while 1,981 or 48.4% are female.
This results to a birth sex ratio of 107, that is, there are 107 male births born per 100 female births born.
Considering the total population, the Crude Birth Rate (CBR) for 2022 is 14.8 or 14 births per thousand population.
As computed based on the age-sex group of women at risk of giving birth, the more accurate General Fertility Rate is 65.2, or 65 births per thousand women who were aged 15-49 years old in the province in 2022.
As for place of residence of the mother, the municipality of Virac reported the highest number of babies born in 2022 at 1,142 or 27.9% of the total.
This was followed by San Andres with 587 babies (14.3%), Caramoran (550), Pandan (389), Viga (324), Bato (262), San Miguel (221), Baras (173), Gigmoto (157), Bagamanoc (137), and Panganiban (125).
The report said that 26 babies born last year have mothers who live outside the province.
In terms of crude birth rate, Pandan and Gigmoto had the highest with 18 births per thousand population, followed by Caramoran (17) while Bato and Bagamanoc had the lowest with 12.
Among the 11 towns, Virac, Viga, San Andres, Pandan, Gigmoto, Caramoran, Baras and Bagamanoc had more male newborns than females.
There were more females than male newborns in Bato (140 to 122), Panganiban (69 to 56), and San Miguel (113 to 108).
Seven out of 10 babies born in Catanduanes are illegitimate or born out of wedlock, the PSA reported. Of the 2,774 illegitimate babies, 34% of them were from mothers aged 20 to 24 years old while another were born to mothers aged 19 years old and below.
It noted that three babies were born to mothers aged 10 to 14 years old while 19 were given birth by mothers aged 45 to 49 years old.
On the other hand, of the 1,319 babies born in 2022 who are legitimate, nearly a third were from mothers aged 30 to 34 years old.
With most hospitals located in its jurisdiction, Virac had the highest number of babies born in 2022 in terms of place of registration, with 2,249, followed by Pandan with 493 and Viga with 462.
The towns of Panganiban and Bagamanoc had the least number with 2 and 3 live births registered, respectively.
Physicians attended most of the 2022 births with 2,221 (54.3%) while midwives accounted for 1,592 (38.9%). Nurses assisted in 162 births while only 112 or 2.7% were attended by traditional “hilots,” the same report said.
The months of September and October had the highest number of babies born in 2022, with identical 458 babies, followed by November with 386 and August with 374.
The month of June had the least number of babies born in 2022 with 288 while less than 300 births were recorded in February, April and December.