The National Health Performance Authority report shows young children are up to three times more likely to die depending on where they live and women are up to 18 times more likely to smoke in some areas of Australia.

The report has, for the first time, broken down by local area infant and child death rates, smoking during pregnancy, the percentage of low-birthweight babies and women who had at least one antenatal visit in their first trimester.

Results were shown for 2009-2012 for more than 60 local Medicare Local areas, including the Western Local Health District (LHD) which encompasses Dubbo, Orange, Bathurst, Narromine and Wellington.

In 2010-2012, the national average for the number of deaths among infants and young children aged under five was 4.4 per 1000, but the rate was higher in Western NSW LHD (5.7). Deaths among children aged under one were 3.3 per 1000 nationally but in Western NSW LHD they were 4.5 per 1000 in the same period.

Western NSW LHD also had a higher percentage of women than the national average who smoked while pregnant.

Smoking during pregnancy was the most common preventable risk factor for complications in pregnancy and was associated with poorer outcomes for babies such as low birthweight and perinatal death including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), the report said.

Nationally, the percentage of women who smoked during pregnancy was 13.9 per cent for all women for 2009-2011 (23.2 per cent in Western NSW LHD) and 51.7 per cent for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women for 2007-2011 (53.1 per cent in Western NSW).

Western NSW LHD also had a higher percentage of low-birthweight babies than the national average. Low-birthweight babies were defined as those weighing less than 2500 grams at birth.

A baby's birthweight, according to the report, was a key indicator of health status and might reflect the health of a mother during her pregnancy, including her smoking status and the quality of antenatal care received.

Nationally, the percentage of liveborn babies of low birthweight was 4.8 per cent for babies born to all women in 2009-2011 (4.9 per cent in Western NSW LHD) and 11 per cent for babies born to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in 2007-2011 (8.9 per cent in Western NSW LHD).

The overall rate was highest in Northern Territory (7.7 per cent) and lowest in the affluent Sydney North Shore and Beaches (3.3 per cent).

A significantly higher proportion of mothers in Western NSW LHD did, however, have at least one antenatal visit in the first trimester when compared with the national average.

In 2010-2011, the national percentage of women who had at least one antenatal visit in the first trimester of pregnancy was 67.2 per cent (82.7 per cent in Western NSW LHD) and 50.3 per cent for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women (67.9 per cent in Western NSW LHD).

The report said antenatal visits within the first trimester were important for monitoring the health of mothers and babies and identifying pregnancy complications early so appropriate treatment can be provided.