Infants Risk of Death Related to Early Birth

From StatWiki

"In 2006, infants born at 37 weeks (of gestation) were twice as likely to die in the first year of life, with 3.9 deaths per 1,000 births, as those born at 40 weeks, with 1.9 deaths per 1,000 births."

"Overall, infant mortality rates have decreased for early-term and full-term births between 1995 and 2006. At 37 weeks of gestation, Hispanics had the greatest decline in infant mortality rates (35.4%; 4.8 per 1,000 to 3.1 per 1,000) followed by 22.4% for whites (4.9 per 1,000 to 3.8 per 1,000); blacks had the smallest decline (6.8%; 5.9 per 1,000 to 5.5 per 1,000) as a result of a stagnant neonatal mortality rate. At 37 weeks compared with 40 weeks of gestation, neonatal mortality rates increase. For Hispanics, the relative risk is 2.6 (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.0–3.3); for whites, the relative risk is 2.6 (95% CI 2.2–3.1); and for blacks, the relative risk is 2.9 (95% CI 2.2–3.8). Neonatal mortality rates are still increased at 38 weeks of gestation. At both early- and full-term gestations, neonatal mortality rates for blacks are 40% higher than for whites and postneonatal mortality rates 80% higher, whereas Hispanics have a reduced postneonatal mortality rate when compared with whites."

[edit] Sources

Term Pregnancy: A Period of Heterogeneous Risk for Infant Mortality, Obstetrics & Gynecology, June 2011, Volume 117, Issue 6, pp1279-1287

New York Times, Childbirth: Every Week in Utero Counts, Study Says, 30 May 2011