Infant Mortality and American Indians/Alaska Natives

Infant Health & Mortality

American Indian/Alaska Natives have almost twice the infant mortality rate as non-Hispanic whites.
American Indian/Alaska Native infants are 2.7 times more likely than non-Hispanic white infants to die from accidental deaths before the age of one year.
American Indian/Alaska Native infants are 50 percent more likely to die from complications related to low birthweight as compared to non-Hispanic white infants.
In 2019, American Indian/Alaska Native mothers were almost three times as likely to receive late or no prenatal care as compared to non-Hispanic white mothers.
American Indian/Alaska Native mothers are 70 percent more likely to smoke during pregnancy as compared to non-Hispanic white mothers.

**Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births, 2018**
American Indian/Alaska Native*	White*	All Races	American Indian/Alaska Native / White Ratio
8.2	4.6	5.8	1.8

Source: CDC 2020. Infant Mortality Statistics from the 2018 Period Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set. National Vital Statistics Reports. Table 2.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr69/NVSR-69-7-508.pdf [PDF 487KB]

**Infant deaths and mortality rates for the top 5 leading causes of death for African Americans, 2018 (Rates per 100,000 live births)**
Cause of Death (By rank)	# American Indian/Alaska Native Deaths	American Indian/Alaska Native Death Rate	# White Deaths	White Death Rate	American Indian/Alaska Native / White Ratio
(1) Low-Birthweight	45	154.7	2,178	111.3	1.4
(2) Congenital Malformations	27	92.8	1,215	62.1	1.5
(3) Maternal Complications	23	92.8	580	29.7	2.7
(4) Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)	17	--	635	32.5	--
(5) Accidents (unintentional injuries)	7	--	446	22.8	--

Source: CDC 2020. Infant Mortality Statistics from the 2018 Period Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set. National Vital Statistics Reports. Table 4.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr69/NVSR-69-7-508.pdf [PDF 487KB]

**Percentage of mothers who received prenatal care (first trimester), 2019**
American Indian/Alaska Native	White	American Indian/Alaska Native / White Ratio
63.7	82.8	0.8

Source: CDC 2021. Births: Final Data for 2019 National Vital Statistics Reports. Table 13.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr70/nvsr70-02-508.pdf [PDF 1MB]

**Percentage of mothers who received late or no prenatal care, 2019**
American Indian/Alaska Native	White	American Indian/Alaska Native / White Ratio
13.0	4.5	2.9

Source: CDC 2021. Births: Final Data for 2019 National Vital Statistics Reports. Table 13.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr70/nvsr70-02-508.pdf [PDF 1MB]

**Percentage of mothers who smoked during pregnancy, 2019**
American Indian/Alaska Native	White	American Indian/Alaska Native / White Ratio
14.6	8.8	1.7

Source: CDC 2021. Births: Final Data for 2019 National Vital Statistics Reports. Table 13.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr70/nvsr70-02-508.pdf [PDF 1MB]

**Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births, 2018**
Age of Mother	American Indian/Alaska Native	White	American Indian/Alaska Native / White Ratio
Under 20 years	8.5	8.5	1.0
20-24 years	9.3	6.1	1.5
25-29 years	7.4	4.7	1.6
30-34 years	7.9	3.6	2.2
35-39 years	7.5	4.1	1.8
40-54 years	--	5.6	--

*All data in the above surveys relate to non-Hispanic American Indians/Alaska Natives and non-Hispanic whites.

Last Modified: 7/9/2021 9:14:00 AM

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