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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 sub-populations. Data from national surveillance reports is limited.

Native Hawaiian mothers are 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.
In 2014, Native Hawaiian mothers were 8.7 times more likely to smoke during pregnancy as compared to all Asian American mothers.
In 2014, Native Hawaiian mothers were twice as 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 almost double that of non-Hispanic white infants born on the mainland of the United States, in 2013.
Recent data for this ethnic group is limited.

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, 2013)*	5.1	--
Guam (2013)*	9.1	1.8
Marshall Islands (2013)**	30.6	6.0
Northern Mariana Islands (2012)***	6.4	1.3
Palau (2013)**	15.1	3.0
American Samoa (2012)***	6.8	1.3
Federated States of Micronesia (2013)**	29.8	5.8

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

*Source (U.S. National): CDC 2015. Infant Mortality Statistics from the 2013 Period Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set. National Vital Statistics Reports. Table C.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_09.pdf [PDF | 994KB]

**Source: WHO Global Health Observatory Data Repository. Table CMS1320R [Accessed September 22, 2017]
http://apps.who.int/gho/data/view.main.CM1320R

***Source: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, Country Health Information Profiles, 2015
http://hiip.wpro.who.int/portal/DataAnalytics.aspx [Accessed September 22, 2017]

Leading Causes of Infant Mortality

National data not available at this time.

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]

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]

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 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, 2015.
https://www.childtrends.org/indicators/late-or-no-prenatal-care/ [Accessed September 22, 2017]

**Percentage of mothers who smoked during pregnancy, 2014**
Race of Mother	Percent	Ratio vs. Non-Hispanic White
Non-Hispanic White	12.2	--
Total Asian	1.1	0.1
Filipino	1.3	0.1
Native Hawaiian	9.6	0.8
Other Asian or Pacific Islander	1.7	0.1

Source: Child Trends Databank, 2015.
https://www.childtrends.org/indicators/mothers-who-smoke-while-pregnant/ [Accessed September 22, 2017]

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

Last Modified: 10/6/2017 5:06:00 PM

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