Childbirth Risks

Age Race State County

Definitions

Healthy People 2020 is a set of 10-year objectives for the US. See healthypeople.gov.
The Healthy People 2020 Maternal, Infant, and Child Health Leading Health Indicators are: Infant deaths (MICH-1.3) and Preterm births (MICH-9.1)
Preterm Births are those at under 37 weeks gestational age.
Low Birth Weight are babies delivered at under 5lb 8oz (2500g).
Cesarean Births are "C-section" deliveries. The Healthy People 2020 target rate is 23.9% for low-risk, first-time mothers.

Risk Calculator

Determine the likelihood that a woman will have a preterm or low birth weight infant or will have a cesarean birth. Start by answering the four questions on this page.

Besides this risk calculator there are two other pages on this site:

Mapping Disparities is a data exploration tool for childbirth data across US states, counties, race, and age.
Reducing Risk presents two important ways for a mother to control maternity and infant related risks.

Results

Here are the rates of childbirth complications for this demographic and location¹. Preterm births, low birth weight, and cesarean births are common, but that does not mean they are completely safe. They do often cause problems, as demonstrated by the information in the three tabs below.

How common are preterm births?

The rate of preterm births for this demographic and location is .

The chance of infant death for a low birth weight birth is , compared to for a birth with a normal weight.³

What are some consequences of preterm births?

These vary widely depending on whether it is a very early birth such as under 34 weeks.

The average hospital charges for a preterm birth is , whereas the average uncomplicated birth costs .²

The average hospital stay for a preterm birth is , compared to for an uncomplicated birth.²

The chance of infant death for a preterm birth is , compared to for a full term birth.³

Preterm birth can also cause health problems later in life. These include developmental delays and problems with digestion, eyes, lungs, and other areas. Please see the CDC page on preterm births for more information.

What are the risk factors for an individual person?

Two of them are on the Reducing Risk page. To learn more see the Maternal, Infant, and Child Health page on HealthyPeople.gov.

How common is low birth weight?

The rate of low birth weight for this demographic and location is .

What are some consequences of low birth weight?

The average hospital charges for a low birth weight birth is , whereas the average uncomplicated delivery costs .²

The average hospital stay for a low birth weight birth is , compared to for an uncomplicated birth.²

The chance of infant death for a low birth weight birth is , compared to for a birth with a normal weight.³

What are the risk factors for an individual person?

Two of them are on the Reducing Risk page. To learn more see the Maternal, Infant, and Child Health page on HealthyPeople.gov.

How common are cesarean births?

The rate of preterm births for this demographic and location is .

What are some consequences of cesarean births?

The average hospital charges for a cesarean birth is , whereas the average vaginal delivery costs .²

The average hospital stay for a cesarean birth is , compared to for a vaginal delivery.²

The chance of infant death for a cesarean birth is , compared to for a vaginal delivery.⁷

What are the risk factors for an individual person?

Two of them are on the Reducing Risk page. To learn more see the Maternal, Infant, and Child Health page on HealthyPeople.gov.

Sources

¹ Preterm, low birth weight, and cesarean rates for each county and demographic: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics. VitalStats (accessed February 10, 2012).

² Cost and hospital stays for preterm and low birth weight: Russel, et al. (2007) Cost of Hospitalization for Preterm and Low Birth Weight Infants in the United States. Pediatrics (120).

³ Infant mortality for preterm and low birth weight: Infant mortality statistics from the 2007 period linked birth/infant death data set. NVSR. 2011;59(6).

⁴ Healthy People 2020 Objectives

⁵ Costs and hospital stays for cesareans: HCUP Statistical Brief 110.

⁶ Cesareans and neonatal mortality: MacDorman, et al. (2006) Infant and Neonatal Mortality for Primary Cesarean and Vaginal Births to Women with “No Indicated Risk,” United States, 1998–2001 Birth Cohorts. Birth 33(3). Or see a summary of the report.

⁷ Underwood, et al. (2007) Cost, causes and rates of rehospitalization of preterm infants. Journal of Perinatology (27).