Infant Mortality and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders

While the overall infant mortality rate for Asians/Pacific Islanders is comparable to the White population, disparities still exist among Pacific Islander subpopulations. Data from national surveillance reports is limited.

Native Hawaiian mothers were twice as likely not to begin prenatal care until the third trimester of pregnancy.
The infant mortality rate for Native Hawaiians was 1.7 times greater as compared with non-Hispanic Whites in 2002.
The infant mortality rate on the island of Guam is twice the rate as for non-Hispanic White infants born on the mainland of the United States.
Recent data for this ethnic group is limited.

At a glance – Infant Mortality Rate:

Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births, 2002*
Race of Mother	Infant Mortality Rate	Ratio vs. Non-Hispanic White
Non-Hispanic White	5.8	--
Total Aian/Pacific Islander	4.8	0.8
Native Hawaiian	9.6	1.7
Other Asian/Pacific Islander	4.7	0.8

Source: CDC 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 19.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf [PDF | 6.01MB]

**Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births, by territory**
Race of Mother	Infant Mortality Rate	Ratio** vs. Non-Hispanic White
Non-Hispanic White (U.S. National, 2007)	5.6	--
Guam (2007)	11.7	2.1
Marshall Islands (2010)	19.0	3.4
Northern Mariana Islands (2009)	1.8	0.3
Palau (2010)	12.2	2.2
American Samoa (2008)	11.3	2.0
Federated States of Micronesia (2009)	13.5	2.4

**Source (U.S. National): CDC 2012. Health United States, 2011. Table 15.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus11.pdf [PDF | 9.8MB]

Source: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, Country Health Information Profiles, 2012
http://www.wpro.who.int/hdb/Default.aspx

**Comparable data is not available; this is for illustration only.

At a glance – Leading Causes of Infant Mortality:

National data not available at this time.

At a glance – Prenatal Care:

Percentage of live births in which mother received prenatal care starting in the 1st trimester, 2002*
Race of Mother	% Received Prenatal Care	Ratio vs. Non-Hispanic White
Non-Hispanic White	88.6	--
Total Asian/Pacific Islander	84.8	1.0
Native Hawaiian	78.1	0.9
Other Asian/Pacific Islander	83.9	0.9

Source: CDC 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 7.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf [PDF | 6.01MB]

Percentage of live births in which mother received prenatal care starting in the 3rd trimester or did not receive Prenatal Care at all, 2002*
Race of Mother	% Received Late or No Prenatal Care	Ratio vs. Non-Hispanic White
Non-Hispanic White	2.2	--
Total Asian/Pacific Islander	3.1	1.4
Native Hawaiian	4.7	2.1
Other Asian/Pacific Islander	3.5	1.6

Source: CDC 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 7.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf [PDF | 6.01MB]

At a glance – Characteristics of Mother:

Percentage of mothers who smoked cigarettes during pregnancy, 2002*
Race of Mother	% Mothers Who Smoked	Ratio vs. Non-Hispanic White
Non-Hispanic White	15.0	--
Total Asian/Pacific Islander	2.5	0.2
Native Hawaiian (2002)	13.7	0.9
Other Asian/Pacific Islander (2002)	2.1	0.1

Source: CDC 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 12.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf [PDF | 6.01MB]

Percentage of live births in which mother had less than 12 years of education, 2002*
Race of Mother	% Live Births	Ratio vs. Non-Hispanic White
Non-Hispanic White	11.7	--
Total Asian/Pacific Islander	10.3	0.9
Native Hawaiian	14.3	1.2
Other Asian/Pacific Islander	11.6	1.0

Source: CDC 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 11.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf [PDF | 6.01MB]

Percentage of live births in which mother had 16 years or more of education, 2002*
Race of Mother	% Live Births	Ratio vs. Non-Hispanic White
Non-Hispanic White	34.3	--
Total Asian/Pacific Islander	45.7	1.3
Native Hawaiian	14.6	0.4
Other Asian/Pacific Islander	44.4	1.3

Source: CDC 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 11.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf [PDF | 6.01MB]

* More recent data is not available from CDC at this time

You will need Adobe Acrobat® Reader™ to view PDF files located on this site. If you do not already have Adobe Acrobat® Reader™, you can download here for free.

Content Last Modified: 7/3/2012 4:10:00 PM

We're in!

We support health equity for all Americans.