Infant Mortality and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders

Infant Health & Mortality

Infant Mortality and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders

While the overall infant mortality rate for Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders is comparable to the white population, disparities still exist among Pacific Islander sub-populations. Data from national surveillance reports is limited.

The infant mortality rate for Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders was 60 percent greater as compared to non-Hispanic whites in 2017.
In 2017, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander mothers were over four times more likely to receive late or no prenatal care as compared to non-Hispanic white mothers.
The infant mortality rate on the island of Guam was 70 percent higher than that of non-Hispanic white infants born on the mainland of the United States, in 2017.

Infant Mortality Rate

Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births, 2017
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander*	Non-Hispanic White	All Races	Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
7.6	4.7	5.8	1.6

Source: CDC 2019. Infant Mortality Statistics from the 2017 Period Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set. National Vital Statistics Reports. Table 2.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_10-508.pdf [474.53KB]

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, 2017)*	4.7	--
Guam (2017)*	7.3	1.6
Marshall Islands (2017)**	15.7	3.3
Northern Mariana Islands (2012)***	6.4	1.4
Palau (2017)**	7.9	1.7
American Samoa (2012)***	6.8	1.4
Federated States of Micronesia (2017)**	16.5	3.5

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

* Source: CDC 2019. Infant Mortality Statistics from the 2017 Period Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set. National Vital Statistics Reports. Table 2 and 3.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_10-508.pdf [474.53KB]

**Source: WHO Data Visualization Dashboard. Neonatal Mortality
https://www.who.int/gho/database/en/

***Source: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, Country Health Information Profiles
http://hiip.wpro.who.int/portal/DataAnalytics.aspx

Leading Causes of Infant Mortality

National data not available at this time.

Characteristics of Mother

Percentage of mothers who received prenatal care (first trimester), 2017
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	Non-Hispanic White	Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
52.5	82.4	0.6

Source: CDC 2019. Births: Final Data for 2017 National Vital Statistics Reports. Table 13.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr67/nvsr67_08-508.pdf [987.68KB]

Percentage of mothers who received late or no prenatal care, 2017
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	Non-Hispanic White	Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
19.6	4.5	4.4

Source: CDC 2019. Births: Final Data for 2017 National Vital Statistics Reports. Table 13.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr67/nvsr67_08-508.pdf [987.68KB]

Percentage of mothers who smoked during pregnancy, 2017
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander	Non-Hispanic White	Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
4.6	10.1	0.5

Source: CDC 2019. Births: Final Data for 2017 National Vital Statistics Reports. Table 13.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr67/nvsr67_08-508.pdf [987.68KB]

Percentage of mothers who received late or no prenatal care, 2014**
Race of Mother	Percent	Ratio vs. Non-Hispanic White
Non-Hispanic White	4.3	--
Total Asian	5.7	1.3
Filipino	3.7	0.9
Native Hawaiian	8.8	2.0
Other Asian or Pacific Islander	6.8	1.6

Source: Child Trends Databank, 2019.
https://www.childtrends.org/indicators/late-or-no-prenatal-care/

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

*All data in the above surveys relate to non-Hispanic Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders.

Last Modified: 11/8/2019 4:21:00 PM

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