Indicator: 14 - Low Birth Weight Infants

Why This Is Important

Low birth-weight infants face an increased risk of physical and developmental complications and death. These babies nationally account for nearly two-thirds of all neonatal deaths and are 21 times more likely to die during the first year than are heavier infants.

Where We Stand

Maine’s incidence of low birth-weight infants is consistently less than the national percentages. However, when low birth-weight births are reported in five-year averages, both Maine and the nation are witnessing a slight increase in incidence of low birth-weight (LBW) births. Preliminary analysis from national data shows a correlation between increased LBW births and the increased use of assisted reproductive technology.

Data Sources and Context

he Maine data through 1999 comes from the Office of Data, Research and Vital Statistics, Bureau of Health, Maine Department of Human Services and is available on-line at http://www.maine.gov/dhs/bohodr/datapage.htm.

U.S. data through 1999 can be found in the national Kids Count tabulations done by the Annie E. Casey Foundation (on-line at http://www.aecf.org/kidscount).

Maine and U.S. data for 2000 and 2001 comes from “Births: Final Data for 2000” and “Births: Final Data for 2001,” Tables 46, published by the National Center for Health Statistics (on-line at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm).

A “low birth-weight infant” is defined as a live birth weighing under 2500 grams (5.5 pounds).