Triplet and Other Higher Order Multiple Births, Trends, and Outcomes, 1971-94 This new report from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) describes changes in the number and ratio of live births in triplet and other higher order multiple deliveries between 1971 and 1994. The data are tabulated by maternal race, age, education, and marital status. NCHS birth data are obtained from the certificates of live birth filed in individual localities in the United States. Mortality data were obtained from NCHS's Linked Birth and Infant Death Data Sets for the 1983-91 birth cohorts. According to data presented in the report, the number of live births in triplet and other higher order multiple deliveries tripled between 1980 (1,337) and 1994 (4,594) and quadrupled between 1971 (1,034) and 1994. Over the past decade (1985-94), increases in the number of triplets averaged 11 percent a year. The report states further that the overall rise in the triplet and other higher order multiple birth ratio (or triplet birth ratio) can be attributed almost exclusively to the rise in triplet births to white mothers. Among black mothers, the triplet birth ratio rose by a more modest 52 percent (from 37.1 to 56.3). Keywords: triplet births, higher order multiple births, birth certificate, triplet infant health, and triplet infant mortality.
This page last reviewed
January 11, 2007
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