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> Make Every Mother and Child Count > What We Know
What We Know: Maternal, Infant, and Child Health
CDC collects
statistics from a variety of sources, including birth and death
certificates, ongoing surveys, and health studies. Health statistics
allow us to document health status, identify disparities, monitor
trends, and more. Below are selected data on maternal, infant, and child
health.
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Maternal Health
Infant Health
Child Health
Maternal Health
Approximately 6 million American women become pregnant each year, and
more than 10,000 give birth each day.
Pregnancy Morbidity and Mortality
-
About 1 in 4
women, or 1 million per year, have a significant complication during labor
and delivery.
-
For every
100,000 deliveries in the United States, about 20 women will die from
pregnancy complications.
-
Women 35 to
39 years of age are nearly 3 times as likely to experience a
pregnancy-related death compared to women 25 to 29 years of age.
-
The United
States ranks 29th among developed countries in maternal mortality.
Source:
Programs in Brief: Safe Motherhood
http://www.cdc.gov/programs/health07.htm
-
The most
common pregnancy complications include ectopic pregnancy, depression, high
blood pressure, infection, complicated delivery, diabetes, premature
labor, and hemorrhage.
-
Other health
risks梥uch as domestic violence, smoking, and substance abuse梒an
jeopardize the health of both mother and infant even though these risks
have not traditionally been thought of as pregnancy complications.
Source: Safe
Motherhood: Promoting Health for Women Before, During, and After
Pregnancy
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/aag/aag_drh.htm
-
Inadequate
weight gain during pregnancy contributes to the chances for unhealthy
births; 26% of low-income women do not gain enough weight during their
pregnancies.
Source:
Programs in Brief: Maternal and Child Nutrition and Health
http://www.cdc.gov/programs/health03.htm
-
Some of the
most common causes of death for children 3 and younger actually originate
in pregnancy. Problems like low birth weight and pre-term birth result
from inadequate nutrition during pregnancy ... from smoking ... alcohol
and drug use ... and inadequate prenatal care to treat high blood
pressure, infections, and other conditions.
Source: CDC
Protecting Health for Life: The State of the CDC, Fiscal Year 2004
http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/Protecting
Health_ForLife_04.pdf
Sexually
Transmitted Diseases (STDs and HIV/AIDS)
-
Chlamydia
and gonorrhea are the most important preventable causes of infertility and
potentially fatal tubal pregnancy. If not adequately treated, up to 40% of
women infected with chlamydia or gonorrhea will develop infection in the
uterus or fallopian tubes. Known as pelvic inflammatory disease, this
infection can lead to infertility or ectopic pregnancy. Chlamydia and
gonorrhea rates are highest among adolescent girls.
-
In 2002, 41%
of chlamydia infections in females were reported among 10- to 19-year-old
girls, and 39% of gonorrhea infections were reported in this age group.
-
Chlamydia
increases the risk of HIV infection at least 3-fold to 5-fold.
Source:
Programs in Brief: Preventing Infertility in Women
http://www.cdc.gov/programs/infect09.htm
- HIV
transmission from mother to child during pregnancy, labor and delivery or
by breast feeding has accounted for 91% of all AIDS cases reported among
U.S. children. Data indicate that when antiretrovirals are delivered
during the prenatal, intrapartum and neonatal periods, transmission rates
can be reduced to less than 2% compared with approximately 25% when no
interventions are given.
Source:
Perinatal HIV Prevention Program: Background
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/projects/perinatal/background.htm
Smoking
- Smoking
harms many aspects and every phase of reproduction. Despite having greater
increased knowledge of the adverse health effects of smoking during
pregnancy, many pregnant women and girls continue to smoke (estimates
range from 12% to 22%). It is estimated that only 18% to 25% quit smoking
once they become pregnant.
Source:
Smoking among Adults: Reproductive Health (The Health Consequences of
Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General)
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/sgr/sgr_2004/Factsheets/5.htm
- Research
has shown that women抯 smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of
pregnancy complications, premature delivery, low-birth-weight infants,
stillbirth, and sudden infant death syndrome.
Source:
Impact on Unborn Babies, Infants, Children, and Adolescents (The Health
Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General)
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/sgr/sgr_2004/Factsheets/1.htm
- Infants
born to mothers who smoke weigh less than other infants, and low
birthweight (<2,500 grams) is a key predictor for infant mortality.
Infertility and conception delay also might be elevated by smoking.
Source:
Smoking during Pregnancy: United States, 1990-2002
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5339a1.htm
Infant Health
Birth
Defects
- Each year
in the United States, 1 in 33 babies is born with a birth defect,
amounting to 150,000 births.
- Another
3,000 babies are born with severe disorders that may not be obvious.
- In about
25% of the cases, the causes of birth defects and developmental
disabilities are known.
- Most cases
of spina bifida and other spine and brain defects can also be prevented if
mothers-to-be get enough folic acid in their diet before and during early
pregnancy.
Source:
Programs in Brief: Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
http://www.cdc.gov/programs/bd.htm
Nutrition
- During
pregnancy, anemia continues to be problematic, especially among low-income
women�% are anemic, greatly increasing their risk of having pre-term and
low birth-weight babies.
- About one
third of U.S. newborns are never breast-fed, and less than half of these
continue for 6 months, putting them at increased risk for diarrhea, ear
infections, pneumonia, type 1 diabetes, celiac disease, and childhood
overweight.
Source:
Programs in Brief: Maternal and Child Nutrition and Health
http://www.cdc.gov/programs/health03.htm
Perinatal
HIV Transmission
- Perinatal
HIV transmission occurs when the virus is passed from mother to child
during pregnancy, labor or delivery, or breast-feeding. Perinatal
transmission accounts for 91% of all AIDS cases reported among U.S.
children, and an estimated 17,000 HIV infections have occurred among
children since the epidemic began.
- Women of
color and their children have been disproportionately affected. Of the
3,748 children reported with perinatally-acquired AIDS in 2002, 3,200
(85%) were African American and Latino/Hispanic.
Source:
Programs in Brief: Eliminating Perinatal HIV Transmission
http://www.cdc.gov/programs/hiv05.htm
Very Low
Birthweight
- The number
of extremely small babies (weighing less than 1 lb, 10.5 oz or 750 grams
at birth) increased by almost 500 births from 2001 to 2002. The increase
occurred primarily among mothers in the peak childbearing ages of 20�
years and occurred across most racial and ethnic groups.
Source: More
Babies Born at Very Low Birthweight
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/05news/lowbirthwt.htm
Child Health
Asthma
- Children
in poor families (15%) were more likely to have ever been diagnosed with
asthma than children in families that were not poor (12%).
Source:
Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Children: National Health Interview
Survey, 2003
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_223.pdf
Child
Maltreatment
- Among
children confirmed by child protective service agencies as being
maltreated, 60% suffered neglect; 20% were physically abused; 10% were
sexually abused; and 7% were emotionally or psychologically abused.
- Children
younger than 4 years are at greatest risk of severe injury or death. In
2002, children younger than 4 years accounted for 76% of child
maltreatment fatalities, with infants under 1 year accounting for 41% of
deaths.
Source:
Child Maltreatment
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/cmfacts.htm
Injury
-
Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for children age 1
and older in the United States.
- In 2001, a
total of 1,579 child passengers 0 to 14 years of age died in motor vehicle
crashes in the United States, and more than 250,000 sustained injuries
requiring treatment in an emergency department.
Source:
Preventing Childhood Injuries
http://www.cdc.gov/programs/injury05.htm
Lead
Poisoning
- Childhood
lead poisoning remains a major preventable environmental public health
problem in the United States.
According to
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 1999�02 data, an
estimated 310,000 U.S. children aged 1 to 5 years have blood lead levels
greater than 10 micrograms per deciliter (礸/dL), a level at which
harmful health effects are known to occur.
Source:
Programs in Brief: Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
http://www.cdc.gov/programs/environ04.htm
Nutrition
- Despite a
gradual decline in pediatric anemia during the past decade, 13% of
low-income children are anemic, and rates of anemia are greater than 30%
among low-income groups in some areas, putting these children at increased
risk of developmental delays and impaired cognitive ability.
- In
addition, more than 13% of low-income children are overweight.
Source:
Programs in Brief: Maternal and Child Nutrition and Health
http://www.cdc.gov/programs/health03.htm
- Among
children and teens ages 6-19, 16% are overweight, triple the rate in 1980.
Another 15% are at risk for becoming overweight.
Source: CDC
Protecting Health for Life: The State of the CDC, Fiscal Year 2004
http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/Protecting
Health_ForLife_04.pdf
Youth
Violence
- Homicide
is the fourth leading cause of death for U.S. children 1 to 9 years of
age, the fifth leading cause of death for children 10 to 14 years of age,
and the second leading cause of death for youth 15 to 24 years of age.
- Homicide
and suicide combined account for 29% of deaths among youth.
- Everyday
in the United States, an average of 17 Americans ages 24 years and younger
die as victims of homicide.
Source:
Programs in Brief: Preventing Youth Violence
http://www.cdc.gov/programs/injury12.htm
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This page
last reviewed
April 15, 2005
URL: http://www.cdc.gov/women/owh/worldhd/know.htm
US
Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Office of Women's Health
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