Infant Mortality and Hispanic Americans

  • Among Hispanic Americans, the infant mortality rate ranges from 3.8 per 1,000 live births for Cuban Americans to 5.6 per 1,000 live births for Puerto Ricans.
  • Puerto Ricans had a 20 percent higher infant mortality rate as compared to non-Hispanic whites in 2018.
  • Puerto Rican infants were 2.5 times as likely to die from causes related to maternal complications than non-Hispanic white infants in 2018.
  • In 2019, Hispanic mothers were 80 percent as likely to receive late or no prenatal care as compared to non-Hispanic white mothers.
  • In 2019, Central and South American mothers were 2.5 times as likely to receive late or no prenatal care as compared to non-Hispanic white mothers.

Infant Mortality Rate

Race of MotherInfant Mortality RateRatio vs. White
White*4.6--
Total Hispanic4.91.1
Mexican4.91.1
Puerto Rican5.61.2
Cuban3.80.8
Central and South American4.00.9
Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births, 2018

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]

Leading Causes of Infant Mortality

Cause of Death(By rank)# Hispanic DeathsHispanic Death Rate# White DeathsWhite Death RateHispanic / White Ratio
(1) Congenital Malformations1,057119.32,178111.31.1
(2) Low-Birthweight71480.61,21568.11.3
(3) Maternal Complications33637.944622.81.7
(4) Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)20222.863532.50.7
(5) Accidents (unintentional injuries)14816.756029.70.6
Infant deaths and mortality rates for the top 5 leading causes of death for Hispanics / Latinos, 2018 (Rates per 100,000 live births)

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]

Cause of Death(By rank)# Mexican DeathsMexican Death RateWhite Death RateMexican / White Ratio
(1) Congenital Malformations593119.3111.31.1
(2) Low-Birthweight39980.562.11.3
(3) Maternal Complications18938.122.81.7
(4) Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)11022.232.50.7
(5) Accidents (unintentional injuries)8817.829.70.6
Infant deaths and mortality rates for the top 5 leading causes of death for Mexican Americans, 2018 (Rates per 100,000 live births)

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]

Cause of Death(By rank)# Puerto Rican DeathsPuerto Rican Death RateWhite Death RatePuerto Rican / White Ratio
(1) Low-Birthweight80111.762.11.8
(2) Congenital Malformations76106.1111.31.0
(3) Maternal Complications4157.322.82.5
(4) Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)2332.132.51.0
(5) Accidents (unintentional injuries)18--29.7--
Infant deaths and mortality rates for the top 5 leading causes of death for Puerto Rican Americans, 2018 (Rates per 100,000 live births)

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]

Cause of Death(By rank)# Central and South DeathsCentral and South Death RateWhite Death RateCentral and South / White Ratio
(1) Congenital Malformations184124.8111.31.1
(2) Low-Birthweight9866.562.11.1
(3) Maternal Complications4329.222.81.3
(4) Accidents (unintentional injuries)15--29.7--
(5) Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)16--32.5--
Infant deaths and mortality rates for the top 5 leading causes of death for Central and South Americans, 2018 (Rates per 100,000 live births)

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]

Characteristics of Mother

Race of MotherPercentRatio vs. White
White82.8--
Total Hispanic72.10.9
Mexican72.80.9
Puerto Rican76.20.9
Cuban81.51.0
Central and South American66.10.8
Percentage of mothers who received prenatal care (first trimester), 2019

Source: CDC 2021. Births: Final Data for 2019 National Vital Statistics Reports. Table 13 and 14.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr70/nvsr70-02-508.pdf [PDF 1.1MB]

Race of MotherPercentRatio vs. White
White4.5--
Total Hispanic8.21.8
Mexican7.81.7
Puerto Rican6.21.4
Cuban4.51.0
Central and South American11.32.5
Percentage of mothers who received late or no prenatal care, 2019

Source: CDC 2021. Births: Final Data for 2019 National Vital Statistics Reports. Table 13 and 14.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr70/nvsr70-02-508.pdf [PDF 1.1MB]

Race of MotherPercentRatio vs. White
White8.8--
Total Hispanic1.50.2
Mexican1.30.1
Puerto Rican4.90.6
Cuban2.00.2
Central and South American0.40.05
Percentage of mothers who smoked during pregnancy, 2019

Source: CDC 2021. Births: Final Data for 2019 National Vital Statistics Reports. Table 13 and 14.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr70/nvsr70-02-508.pdf [PDF 1.1MB]

Age of MotherHispanic WhiteHispanic / White Ratio
Under 20 years6.48.50.8
20-24 years5.16.10.8
25-29 years4.44.70.9
30-34 years4.43.61.2
35-39 years4.94.11.2
40-54 years6.35.61.7
Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births, 2018

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]

*All data in the above surveys relate to non-Hispanic whites.