Ireland is bucking the trends - and creating new ones - when it comes to births.

A study has brought together data from different sources to highlight European trends, and where Ireland is placed within these.

It finds that Ireland is third in Europe for babies born to mothers aged over 35 - and that between 1990 and 2012, European birth rates fell as Ireland's rose.

In 1994, the lowest number of live births were recorded in Ireland - 13.5 per 1,000 residents - rising to 15.6 by 2012 and peaking at 17 in 2008.

The average age of a mother in Ireland on her first birth is 29.9.

The study also finds that nearly one in every five Irish babies are born by C-Section, and that Ireland has a low rate of breastfeeding after three months.

Ireland joins France and Greece for a low rate of breastfeeding, where only 20% of babies are still breastfed at three months old.

And it also says that the large majority of babies here are born with healthy birth weights.

The most common weight range for newborns in Ireland was 7 pounds 11 ounces, to 8lbs 13 ounces.

And only 4.8% of babies in Ireland did not meet the minimum birth weight.

European maternal data from the World Health Organisation's (WHO) regional office for Europe from 1970 to 2012 was analysed to produce the 'European Birth and Baby Trends' report.

Each woman in Ireland averaged 2.5 children - with Turkey topping the big-family charts, where women had an average three children.

Albania came in second (2.6), with Kazakhstan tying in third with Ireland.