Natality
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
Contacts
Birth
data Web page
Mortality
data Web page
Survey
description
The Natality public-use data file includes all births occurring within the
United States. Births occurring to U.S. citizens outside the United States
are not included.
Data are obtained from
certificates filed for births occurring in each State. Data were
obtained from a 50-percent sample of certificates during 1968-71. Starting
in 1972 all records were included for States that participated in the
Vital Statistics Cooperative Program (VSCP). The number of States
participating in the VSCP increased from 6 in 1972 to 46 in 1984;
beginning in 1985, all States and the District of Columbia participated.
Data
file description
Three file formats are available for 1969-88. These are: Detail, State
summary, and Local area summary. The detailed file includes one
record for each birth in the sample. Data on the local area summary
and the State summary files have been weighted and represent a total count
of births. Birth certificate numbers are not included. NCHS does not
distribute certificates, files, or indexes with identifying information
for births. Please refer to the section of the home page on
How to obtain birth, death, marriage, and divorce certificates.
Starting in 1989, the
detailed file format is for a single calendar year and includes data for
cities, counties, and metropolitan areas with a population of 100,000 or
more. Date of infant's birth and dates of birth of the mother and
father and birth certificate numbers are excluded from this file.
Beginning in 1994, the same detail is available on a separate file for
Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam.
List
of data file variables at a glance for the Detail
(1968-88
and 1989-97), State
summary, Local area
summary files
Detail file
(1968-88)1
Data
year
Residence of mother:2
State3
County3
City (100,000 persons or more)4
Population
size
Standard metropolitan statistical area
3 Metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties
Age of:
Father (1969-70: under 18 years of age single years
age
18 and over; 1971-88: single years age 10
and
over)
Mother (single years, age 10-49)
Apgar scores, 1 and 5 minutes5
Attendant at birth6
Birth date (month/day)
Birth weight (in grams)
Education of mother and father (single years, 0-17)5
Gestation period5
(single weeks, 17-52):
Month/day/year
of last menstrual period
Hispanic origin of mother and father5
(1982-88)
Interval in months:6
Since
last fetal death
Since
last live birth
Since
termination of last pregnancy
Marital status7
Month/year of:
Last
fetal death
Last
live birth
Nativity of mother (1970, 1971, 1973-88)
Place of birth (State3,
county3)
Place of delivery
Plurality (1971-88)
Pregnancy history:
Born
alive, now living
Born
alive, now dead
Interval
since last live birth (in months)
Live-birth
order
Month/year
of last live birth
Other
terminations
Outcome
of last pregnancy5
Total-birth
order
Prenatal care:
Month
of pregnancy care began8
Number
of prenatal visits5
(1972-88)
Race of:
Child
(9 categories)
Father
(10 categories)
Mother
(10 categories)
Sex of child
Record
weight (1972-88)
Stub A variables
Residence of mother:2
State3
County3
City
(10,000 persons or more)
Standard
metropolitan statistical area3
Metropolitan
and nonmetropolitan counties
Race of child (3 categories)
Sex of child
Age of mother (under 15 years of age; single years,
ages
15-19; 5-year age groups, ages 20-49 years)
Education of mother7
(5 categories)
Place of delivery
Attendant at birth10
Spread A variables
Age of mother (5-year groups)
Live-birth order (single order, 1 to 8 and over)
Stub B variables
Residence of mother:2
State3
County3
City
(10,000 persons or more)
Standard
metropolitan statistical area3
Metropolitan
and nonmetropolitan counties
Race of child (3 categories)
Sex of child
Spread B variables
Birth weight (500-gram groups)
Attendant at birth and place of delivery11
State
summary file (1968-88)9
Stub
A and B variables
State of residence3
Race of child (9 categories)
Plurality (1971-88)
Sex of child
Live-birth order (single order 1 to 8 and over)
Age of mother (under 15 years of age; single years, ages 15-49)
Spread A variables
Birth weight (500-gram groups)
Total birth order (single order 1 to 8 and over)
Spread B variable
Month of birth
Stub C variable
State of birth
Spread C variables
Month of birth
Resident status
____________________________________________________
1All
data items in the detail file are in EBCDIC code. The stub
portion of all summary records consists of EBCDIC codes, and
the spread portion consists of a series of full word binary
fields
containing numbers of births.
2Beginning
in 1970, the place of residence for mothers who were
nonresidents of the United States has been coded to the
country of residence. Formerly, these births were considered
resident births of the place of occurrence. The local area
summary excludes data for nonresidents of the United States.
3FIPS codes as well as NCHS codes beginning in 1982.
4Before 1979 population size was 250,000 or more.
5Applicable only for those States having information on the
certificate.
6For 1969-74, applies to out-of-hospital births only.
7For 1969-79, applicable only for those States having
information on the certificate. Beginning in 1980, data
for States without
the item have been inferred from other sources on the
certificate.
8For 1969-79, applicable only for those States having
information on the certificate; beginning with 1980, all
States have the
information.
9Variables within a given stub may be cross-tabulated with one
another and must be cross-tabulated with at least one stub
variable; variables within a given spread may not be
cross-tabulated with one another.
10For 1969-74, applies to out-of-hospital births only.
11Attendant for out-of-hospital births only.
Detail
files (1989-97)
Data year
Residence of mother:1
State2
County2,3
City3
Population size
Standard metropolitan statistical area2,3
Metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties
Abnormal conditions of the newborn4
Age of:
Father (single years, 10 and over)
Mother (single years, 10-49)
Apgar scores, 1 and 5 minutes4
Alcohol use4
Attendant at birth
Birth weight (in grams)
Complications of labor or delivery4
Congenital anomalies4
Day of week of birth
Education of mother and father4
(single years, 0-17)
Gestation period (single weeks, 17-47)
Hispanic origin of mother and father4
Marital status5
Medical risk factors4
Method of delivery4
Nativity of mother
Obstetric procedures4
Place of birth (State,2
county2,3)
Place of delivery
Plurality
Pregnancy history:
Born alive, now living
Born alive, now dead
Interval since last live birth (in months)
Live-birth order
Month/year of last live birth
Other terminations
Total-birth order
Prenatal care:
Adequacy of care (Kessner Index)
Month of pregnancy care began
Number of prenatal visits
Race of:
Child (9 categories)
Father (10 categories)
Mother (9 categories)
Sex of child
Tobacco use4
Weight gain during pregnancy4
(single pounds, 0-99)
__________________________________________________
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
certificate.
5Data for States without the item have been inferred from other
items on the certificate.
Data
file technical characteristics
The following list
describes the specific characteristics of each file (Detail,
Local area summary, and State
summary) for each data year. The CD-ROM format comes with
Statistical Export and Tabulation System (SETS)
retrieval software. Beginning in 1994, the natality data for Guam, Puerto
Rico, and the Virgin Islands are provided as separate data sets on the
file.
Detail file
Data
year |
Number
of
records |
1996 |
3,894,874 |
1995 |
3,899,589 |
1994 |
3,952,767 |
1993 |
4,000,240 |
1992 |
4,065,014 |
1991 |
4,115,342 |
1990 |
4,162,917 |
1989 |
4,045,693 |
1988 |
3,913,793 |
1987 |
3,813,216 |
1986 |
3,760,695 |
1985 |
3,765,064 |
1984 |
3,360,871 |
1983 |
3,337,883 |
1982 |
3,376,813 |
1981 |
3,319,054 |
1980 |
3,310,301 |
1979 |
3,184,421 |
1978 |
2,865,686 |
1977 |
2,772,206 |
1976 |
2,463,852 |
1975 |
2,232,406 |
1974 |
2,029,150 |
1973 |
1,839,736 |
1972 |
1,749,402 |
1971 |
1,781,774 |
1970 |
1,868,900 |
1969 |
1,800,103 |
1968 |
1,750,782 |
Puerto
Rico, Virgin Islands, and Guam data sets
Data
year |
Number
of
records |
1996 |
63,255 |
1995 |
69,868 |
1994 |
71,212 |
Local
area summary
Data
year |
Number
of
records |
1988 |
575,874 |
1987 |
571,701 |
1986 |
565,279 |
1985 |
566,484 |
1984 |
550,432 |
1983 |
550,704 |
1982 |
554,359 |
1981 |
534,196 |
1980 |
531,673 |
1979 |
519,107 |
1978 |
516,764 |
1977 |
529,813 |
1976 |
508,984 |
1975 |
478,227 |
1974 |
392,093 |
1973 |
372,865 |
1972 |
357,209 |
1971 |
354,431 |
1970 |
359,427 |
1969 |
335,499 |
1968 |
45,992 |
State
summary
Data
year |
Number
of
records
|
1988 |
172,972 |
1987 |
168,003 |
1986 |
166,061 |
1985 |
164,669 |
1984 |
157,127 |
1983 |
155,672 |
1982 |
155,127 |
1981 |
152,761 |
1980 |
151,285 |
1979 |
146,431 |
1978 |
140,201 |
1977 |
135,997 |
1976 |
131,897 |
1975 |
127,455 |
1974 |
124,117 |
1973 |
118,581 |
1972 |
121,065 |
1971 |
121,115 |
1970 |
115,007 |
1969 |
118,891 |
1968 |
112,692 |
Geographic
coverage
Place of birth is
classified by State and county. In residence classification, all
births are allocated to the usual place of residence of the mother as
reported on the birth certificate and are classified by State, county, and
city.
For data
years 1968-78, cities of 250,000 persons or more are classified. Beginning
with 1979, cities of 100,000 persons or more are classified.
Geographic
classification is as follows:
Data
year |
Census
enumeration |
1994-97 |
1990 |
1982-93 |
1980 |
1970-81 |
1970 |
1968-69 |
1960 |
Data
availability
Natality data are
collected annually. Data in ASCII format are available on CD-ROM
from 1991-95. Beginning 1996, data released on CD-ROM contain the SETS
Interface. ASCII data on CD-ROM are available for the following file
types:
File
type |
Availability |
Detail |
1968-97 |
Local
area summary |
1968-88 |
State-summary |
1968-88 |
Customized data
Requests from researchers whose data needs cannot be
met by the detailed files should be made in writing and mailed to
Director, Division of
Vital Statistics
National Center for Health Statistics
3311 Toledo Road, Room 7318
Hyattsville, Maryland 20782
All
requests for
additional data should include a list of the specific data items that are
needed and an explanation of how the data will be used. The Director
will make a determination on the request and release data as applicable.
However, recipients must agree to additional restrictions to avoid
possible inadvertent disclosure of confidential information.
Unless the requester is from a Federal agency, the requester will
most likely be referred to the NCHS
Research Data Center.
Ordering
information
The Natality, Detail, Local
area summary, and State
summary data in ASCII format can only be purchased
through the National Technical Information Service (NTIS).
The SETS CD-ROMs
can be purchased from NTIS and/or the Government Printing Office (GPO).
Check
for availability
and, as
prices vary, please check with NTIS or GPO for the most current
prices.
Documentation
contents
Documentation is available electronically on the CD-ROM. Control
total tables are also included. The 1995 data documentation is
available on the CDC/FTP
server.
Related
reports
Reports that relate to the
data are available in Vital and Health Statistics, Series
21; Supplements
to the Monthly Vital Statistics Report; National
Vital Statistics Report, and Vital
Statistics of the United States, Volume I, Natality.
Contact
Reproductive Statistics
Branch
Division of Vital Statistics
National Center for Health Statistics
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
3311 Toledo Road, Floor 7318
Hyattsville, Maryland 20782
(301) 458-4111
births@cdc.gov
This page last reviewed
April 30, 2009
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