Infant Mortality Disparities Fact Sheet - Hispanics

The infant mortality rate ranges from 4.6 per 1,000 live births for Cubans and 7.8 per 1,000 live births for Puerto Ricans.
Puerto Rican Americans have a 40% higher infant mortality rate as compared to non-Hispanic whites.
Hispanic mothers are 2.5 times more likely to begin prenatal care I the 3 rd trimester or not receive prenatal care at all as compared to non-Hispanic white mothers.
Puerto Rican infants were twice as likely to die from causes related to low birth weight, compared to non-Hispanic white infants.
Mexican American mothers were 2.5 times likely as non-Hispanic white mothers to begin prenatal care in the 3 rd trimester, or not receive prenatal at all.
The top four leading causes of infant deaths for Hispanic Americans are:
1. Congenital malformations
2. Low birth weight
3. Newborn affected by maternal complications of pregnancy
4. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

Statistical Charts

**Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births, 2004**
Race of Mother	Infant mortality rate	Ratio vs. Non-Hispanic White
Non-Hispanic White	5.7	--
Total Hispanic	5.6	1.0
Mexican	5.5	1.0
Puerto Rican	7.8	1.4
Cuban	4.6	0.8
Central and South American	4.7	0.8

Source: CDC 2007. Infant Mortality Statistics from the 2004 Period Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set. National Vital Statistics Reports 55(14). Table 2.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr55/nvsr55_14.pdf [PDF, 768K]

Infant death and infant mortality rates for the top 4 leading causes of death for Hispanic Americans, Preliminary 2006 (Rates per 100,000 live births)

**Hispanic Americans**
(Please note: the number three cause of infant death for Hispanic American is newborns affected by maternal complications of pregnancy, not Sudden Infant Death Syndrome as compared with white mothers)
Cause of Death (By Rank)	Number	Rates
Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities	1,442	139
Disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight	919	88
Newborns affected by maternal complications of pregnancy	299	29
Sudden infant death syndrome	244	24

**Whites (non-Hispanic)**
Cause of Death (By Rank)	Number	Rates
Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities	2,989	129
Disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight	1,805	78
Sudden infant death syndrome	1,171	51
Newborns affected by maternal complications of pregnancy	751	33

**Percentage of live births in which mother received prenatal care starting in the 3rd trimester or did not receive prenatal care at all.**
Race of Mother	% Received Late or No Prenatal Care	Ratio vs. Non-Hispanic White
Non-Hispanic White	2.2	--
Total Hispanic	5.4	2.5
Mexican	5.5	2.5
Puerto Rican	3.9	1.8
Cuban	2.9	1.3
Central and South American	5.1	2.3

Source: CDC 2007. Health United States , 2007. Table 7
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf [PDF, 6MB]

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Content Last Modified: 8/15/2008 12:26:00 PM