But babies face more serious health problems

Young women in Nunavut may find giving birth easier and require less medical intervention during delivery than women in other Canadian provinces and territories.

But their age and habits mean their babies risk being smaller at birth and suffering serious health problems.

Nunavut has the highest rate of babies born under 5.5 pounds or 2,500 grams of any province or territory in ­Canada.

Seven in 100 Nunavut women give birth to low-weight babies, compared to the Canadian average of six in 100 women giving birth to low-weight babies, says a recent study on regional health trends from the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

These low birth weight babies are at greater risk of dying during the first year of life from illness or sudden infant death syndrome. They are also at risk of suffering from certain disabilities, such as mental retardation, visual and respiratory problems, illnesses, such as RSV, or respiratory syncitial virus, and learning problems.

Smaller babies are associated with smoking, younger mothers and premature deliveries. In Nunavut, nearly nine in 10 pregnant women smoke, one in four mothers is a teen, and premature births are common.

Baffin women deliver premature, or pre-term, babies at three times the Canadian rate, and they're giving birth to highly pre-term babies at twice the national rate, a 2004 study found.

Genital tract infections, such as sexually transmitted diseases, smoking, and factors, such as stress, anxiety and depression are known to affect also affect the risk of pre-term birth.

Women in Nunavut are also having more babies at a younger age than any other province or territory in Canada. The mean age for giving birth in Nunavut was 24.5 years in 2004, the youngest in Canada.

The average age at which women in the Baffin region gives birth to her first child is 14-16 years.

The young age, smoking habits of Nunavut mothers and their babies' pre-term deliveries may explain why the Canadian Institute for Health Information also found fewer caesarian sections and the use of epidural anesthetic and other medical interventions among Nunavut women's deliveries.

Fewer than one in 10 Nunavut women deliver by c-section, compared to more than one in five in Canada.

The average age of Canadian women giving birth by c-section outside of Nunavut is 30.4 years and few continue to smoke during pregnancy. This means they are older and possibly less fit, but also more likely to deliver larger babies at term.