Infant Mortality Disparities Fact Sheet - American Indian and Alaska Natives

The American Indian and Alaska Native population has a 51% higher infant mortality death rate than whites.
American Indians/Alaska Natives twice as likely has whites to have an infant die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
American Indian/Alaska Native infants are 3.6 times as likely to have a mother began prenatal care in the 3 rd trimester or not receive prenatal care than whites.
The top three leading causes of infant deaths for American Indians/Alaska Natives are:
1. Congenital malformations
2. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
3. Low Birth weight

Statistical Charts

**Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births, 2004**
American Indian/Alaska Native	White	All Races	American Indian/Alaska Native /Non- Hispanic White Ratio
8.6	5.7	6.8	1.5

Source: CDC 2007. Infant Mortality Statistics from the 2004 Period Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set. National Vital Statistics Reports 55(14). Table 1.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr54/nvsr54_14.pdf [PDF, 1.08MB]

**Infant deaths and mortality rates for the top 3 leading causes of death for American Indian/Alaska Native, 2004. (Rates per 100,000 live births)**
Cause of Death (By rank)	# American Indian/Alaska Native Deaths	American Indian/Alaska Native Death Rate	#Non- Hispanic White Deaths	Non- Hispanic White Death Rate	American Indian/Alaska Native/Non- Hispanic White Ratio
(1) Congenital malformations	89	202.6	2,969	129.3	1.6
(2) Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)	44	100.2	1,240	54.0	1.9
(3) Low-Birthweight	29	66.0	1,770	77.1	0.9

Source: CDC 2007. Infant Mortality Statistics from the 2004 Period Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set. National Vital Statistics Reports 55(14). Table 7.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr55/nvsr55_14.pdf [PDF, 768K]

**Percentage of live births in which mother received prenatal care starting in the 3 rd trimester or did not receive prenatal care at all.**
American Indian/Alaska Native	Non-Hispanic White	American Indian/Alaska Native/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
7.9	2.2	3.6

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 12:36:00 PM