bolster.data_sources.nisra.stillbirths

NISRA Stillbirths and Infant Deaths Data Source.

Provides access to annual stillbirth and infant death statistics for Northern Ireland via the NISRA PxStat API, with geographic breakdowns by HSC Trust and Local Government District.

A stillbirth is defined as a baby born after 24 weeks of pregnancy that did not show any signs of life. Infant deaths are deaths of children under one year old.

Original data source:

https://www.nisra.gov.uk/statistics/births-deaths-and-marriages/stillbirths

PxStat matrices used:

• SBAIDHSCT — annual stillbirths and infant deaths by HSC Trust (5 trusts + NI total)

• SBAIDLGD — annual stillbirths and infant deaths by LGD (11 districts + NI total)

Update Frequency: Annual Geographic Coverage: Northern Ireland

Example

>>> from bolster.data_sources.nisra import stillbirths
>>> df = stillbirths.get_latest_stillbirths()
>>> sorted(df.columns.tolist())
['geography', 'geography_code', 'infant_deaths', 'stillbirths', 'year']

>>> # NI total stillbirths in 2024
>>> ni_2024 = df[(df["geography"] == "Northern Ireland") & (df["year"] == 2024)]
>>> bool(ni_2024["stillbirths"].iloc[0] > 0)
True

Attributes

logger

Exceptions

NISRAValidationError

Raised when stillbirths data fails validation.

Functions

get_latest_stillbirths([dimension, force_refresh])	Get the latest annual stillbirth and infant death data for Northern Ireland.
validate_stillbirths_data(df)	Validate stillbirths DataFrame for basic integrity.
get_stillbirths_by_year(df, year)	Filter stillbirths data to a specific year.
get_annual_summary(df)	Calculate annual NI totals and trends for stillbirths.

Module Contents

bolster.data_sources.nisra.stillbirths.logger

exception bolster.data_sources.nisra.stillbirths.NISRAValidationError

Bases: Exception

Raised when stillbirths data fails validation.

Initialize self. See help(type(self)) for accurate signature.

bolster.data_sources.nisra.stillbirths.get_latest_stillbirths(dimension='hsct', force_refresh=False)

Get the latest annual stillbirth and infant death data for Northern Ireland.

Fetches annual data from the NISRA PxStat API for the chosen geographic breakdown. Returns the full time series available (HSCT from 1974, LGD from 2008).

Note

force_refresh is accepted for API compatibility but is ignored — the PxStat API is called directly with no local cache layer.

Parameters:

• dimension (str) –

  Geographic breakdown to return. One of:

  • "hsct" — 5 HSC Trusts + NI total (default, data from 1974)

  • "lgd" — 11 Local Government Districts + NI total (data from 2008)

• force_refresh (bool) – Ignored. Retained for API compatibility.

Returns:

• year: Registration year (int)

• geography_code: geography identifier code

• geography: geography name label

• stillbirths: Annual stillbirth count (int)

• infant_deaths: Annual infant death count (int)

Return type:

DataFrame with columns

Raises:

ValueError – If dimension is not a supported value.

Example

>>> df = get_latest_stillbirths()
>>> sorted(df.columns.tolist())
['geography', 'geography_code', 'infant_deaths', 'stillbirths', 'year']
>>> annual = df[df["geography"] == "Northern Ireland"].groupby("year")["stillbirths"].sum()
>>> len(annual) > 0
True

bolster.data_sources.nisra.stillbirths.validate_stillbirths_data(df)

Validate stillbirths DataFrame for basic integrity.

Parameters:

df (pandas.DataFrame) – DataFrame from get_latest_stillbirths().

Returns:

True if validation passes.

Raises:

NISRAValidationError – If validation fails.

Return type:

bool

Example

>>> import pandas as pd
>>> validate_stillbirths_data(pd.DataFrame())
Traceback (most recent call last):
    ...
bolster.data_sources.nisra.stillbirths.NISRAValidationError: DataFrame is empty

bolster.data_sources.nisra.stillbirths.get_stillbirths_by_year(df, year)

Filter stillbirths data to a specific year.

Parameters:

• df (pandas.DataFrame) – DataFrame from get_latest_stillbirths().

• year (int) – Year to filter.

Returns:

Filtered DataFrame.

Return type:

pandas.DataFrame

Example

>>> df = get_latest_stillbirths()
>>> df_2024 = get_stillbirths_by_year(df, 2024)
>>> "stillbirths" in df_2024.columns
True

bolster.data_sources.nisra.stillbirths.get_annual_summary(df)

Calculate annual NI totals and trends for stillbirths.

Parameters:

df (pandas.DataFrame) – DataFrame from get_latest_stillbirths().

Returns:

year, total_stillbirths, yoy_change, yoy_pct_change.

Return type:

DataFrame with columns

Example

>>> df = get_latest_stillbirths()
>>> summary = get_annual_summary(df)
>>> sorted(summary.columns.tolist())
['total_stillbirths', 'year', 'yoy_change', 'yoy_pct_change']