Summary

The Infant Mortality and Morbidity dashboard provides Texas data on infant mortality, the leading causes of infant death, preterm birth, and low birthweight.

Data Source

Texas Vital Statistics (VSTAT)

Healthy People 2030

National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)

CDC Wide-ranging ONline Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER)

Data Description

DSHS combines different data sources across many years to provide an overview of Texas infant mortality. The data support programs and policymakers monitor trends and make decisions to improve the health of Texas mothers and babies.

Because of rounding, some numbers in figures, graphs, or written results may not add to the total amount. Data and results are based on the most recent data available. The dashboard is updated as new data is available.

Causes of Infant Death: DSHS used the NCHS Instruction Manual causes of infant death categories to determine the leading causes of Texas infant death in this dashboard. Not all Texas infant deaths are due to the leading causes shown in this dashboard. Causes of infant death are reported as the number of deaths per 10,000 live births.

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR): The number of infants one year old or less who died within a year divided by the number of live births in that same year multiplied by 1,000. The births include this rate are limited to women who live in Texas.

Public Health Region (PHR): Public health regions serve the public health needs of Texas through direct, essential public health services, local public health agencies support, and public health emergency preparedness and response leadership and coordination.

Race and Ethnicity: Race or ethnicity information shown in the dashboard refers to the mother, not the infant. However, infant death data is based on the infant’s race or ethnicity. Women who identified themselves as Hispanic were classified as Hispanic regardless of race. Women who did not identify as Hispanic were classified as non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, or non-Hispanic Other. The non-Hispanic Other category includes women who identified as Native American, Asian, or multiracial.

Regional Advisory Council – Perinatal Care Region (RAC-PCR): RAC-PCRs are administrative bodies responsible for trauma system oversight within each Texas Trauma Service Area. Each of the 22 RACs is tasked with developing, implementing, and monitoring a regional emergency medical service trauma system plan. RAC stakeholders are comprised of healthcare entities and other concerned citizens with an interest in improving and organizing trauma care.

Additional Information

Haghighat, N., Hu, M., Laurent, O., Chung, J., Nguyen, P., & Wu, J. (2016). Comparison of birth certificates and hospital-based birth data on pregnancy complications in Los Angeles and Orange County, California. BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 16(1), 93.

Vinikoor, L. C., Messer, L. C., Laraia, B. A., & Kaufman, J. S. (2010). Reliability of variables on the North Carolina birth certificate: a comparison with directly queried values from a cohort study. Pediatric and perinatal epidemiology, 24(1), 102-112.

National Center for Health Statistics (2011). ICD–10 cause-of-death lists for tabulating mortality statistics. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/Part9InstructionManual2011.pdf [Accessed March 28, 2022].

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. National Vital Statistics System, Linked Birth / Infant Deaths on CDC WONDER Online Database. Data are from the Linked Birth / Infant Deaths Records 2017-2023, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. Retrieved from wonder.cdc.gov/lbd-current-expanded.html