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Fetal Death Data Public-Use Data Files

Survey description
Data file description
List of data file variables at a glance
Data file technical characteristics
Geographic coverage
Data availability
Ordering information
Documentation contents
Related reports
Contact

Survey description
This file contains all fetal deaths occurring in the United States and the District of Columbia. Beginning in 1994, fetal deaths for Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and Guam are included on the data file but are provided as separate data sets. Fetal deaths occurring to U.S. citizens outside the United States are not included.

Data are obtained from fetal death reports registered for fetal deaths occurring in each State. Registration requirements vary. Most areas require reporting fetal deaths of gestations of 20 weeks or more; some require reporting of all periods of gestation.

Data file description
The data files include one record for each fetal death in the sample. Fetal death report numbers are not included.

List of data file variables at a glance
Data year
Residence of mother:¹
State²
County²
City³
Population size
Standard metropolitan statistical area², 3
Metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties
Age of:
Father (single years, age 10 and over)
Mother (single years, age 10-49)
Alcohol use^{4, 5}
Attendant at delivery
Birth weight (in grams)
Complications of labor or delivery^{4, 5}
Congenital anomalies^{4, 5}
Day of week of delivery
Education of mother and father^{4, 5} (single years, 0-17)
Gestation period (single weeks, 2-47)
Hispanic origin of mother and father^{4, 5}
Marital status
Medical risk factors^{4, 5}
Method of delivery^{4, 5}
Obstetric procedures^{4, 5}
Place of occurrence (State,² county²)
Place of delivery
Plurality
Pregnancy history:
Born alive, now living
Born alive, now dead
Interval since last live birth (in months)⁵
Live-birth order
Month/year of last live birth⁵
Other terminations
Total birth order
Prenatal care:
Month of pregnancy care began
Number of prenatal visits
Race of:
Child (9 categories)⁶
Father (10 categories)⁷
Mother (9 categories)⁷
Sex of child
Tobacco use^{4, 5}
Weight gain during pregnancy⁴ (single pounds, 0-98)⁵
____________________________________________________
¹The place of residence for mothers who were nonresidents of the United States has been coded to the country of residence.
²Includes FIPS codes as well as NCHS codes.
³Includes data for areas with a population of 100,000 persons or more.
⁴Applicable only for those States having information on the report.
⁵Data collection of this variable began in 1989.
⁶Available 1982-92.
⁷Beginning 1992, additional categories are available for some States.

Data file technical characteristics
The following list describes the specific characteristics of each file for each data year.  

Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and Guam data sets

Geographic coverage
Place of fetal death is classified by State and county. In residence classification, all fetal deaths are allocated to the usual place of residence of the mother as reported on the fetal death report and are classified by State, county, and city. For data years 1982-94, cities of 100,000 persons or more are classified. Geographic classification for 1982-93 is based on the 1980 census enumeration. Geographic classification for 1994-96 is based on the 1990 census enumeration.

Data availability
Fetal death data are collected annually. Years from 1982 through 1995 are available together on a single CD-ROM. Data for 1991 are available alone on a separate CD-ROM.  Data from the 1995-98 fetal death files are combined with data from the linked birth and infant death files and are contained on the Perinatal Mortality Data File CD-ROM.

Ordering information
Fetal death ASCII data for years 1982 through 1995 can only be purchased from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). The Perinatal Mortality Data File CD-ROM for years 1995-1999 in the SETS format can be purchased from NTIS and/or GPO.  Check for availability and contact NTIS and/or GPO for current pricing and ordering information. 

Documentation contents
The necessary documentation is available electronically on CD-ROM, including content and technical information that is needed to access the data. Control total tables are also included.

1996 data file documentation

Related reports
Reports that relate to the data are available in Vital and Health Statistics, Series 20, and Supplements to the Monthly Vital Statistics Report.

Contact
Reproductive Statistics Branch
Division of Vital Statistics
National Center for Health Statistics
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
3311 Toledo Road, Room 7318
Hyattsville, Maryland 20782
(301) 458-4111

For additional information check out the following links
Fetal Death Data Web Page
Mortality Data Web Page
Linked Birth and Infant Death Web Page

This page last reviewed September 04, 2008