At a glance
More than three million healthy babies are born each year in the United States. While most women have a normal term pregnancy and deliver a normal infant, a safe and healthy pregnancy is not experienced by all women. Certain genetic, behavioral, social, and environmental factors can affect the parents’ ability to conceive, carry, and deliver a healthy, full-term baby.
We Track That
Reproductive and birth outcomes may be different across geographic areas. Reasons may include access to care, level of care, individuals' personal and behavioral characteristics, and environmental exposures.
Monitoring reproductive and birth outcome data on the Tracking Network can improve understanding of the role environmental exposures play in reproductive and infant health problems.
Types of Data
The Tracking Network displays data and information on several reproductive and birth outcome indicators. Sources for these data include CDC's National Vital Statistics System and the U.S. Census Bureau.
This indicator looks at the total fertility rate (TFR). TFR is the number of births that a hypothetical group of 1,000 people would have throughout their childbearing years. This indicator uses age-specific birth rates. It controls for variation in birth rates due to age and difference in the average age of all women between states and counties. These data are available at the state and county level.
This indicator shows the number and percent of premature single births. These data are available at the state and county level.
This indicator shows the number and percent of low birth weight (LBW) among full-term, single birth newborns. It can be used to track perinatal health because LBW is an important predictor of perinatal morbidity and mortality. These data are available at the state and county level. Some data are available at census tract at state level where appropriate.
This mortality indicator shows number and rates of infant deaths for different age groups.
- All infants (under 1 year of age)
- Neonates (infants younger than 28 days)
- Perinates (infants at 28 weeks gestation to younger than 7 days old)
- Post-neonates (infants aged 28 days to < 1 year)
The data are displayed in five-year increments at the state and county level.
This sex ratio indicator can be used to monitor the proportion of males to females. Baseline data can be used to determine if the proportion is changing over time. These data are available at the state and county level.
Access the Data
Use the Data Explorer to create custom maps, tables, and charts.
View data in simple Quick Reports.
Get machine-readable data from the Application Program Interface (API).
Data in Action
The reproductive and birth outcome data on the Tracking Network can be used for the following actions.
- Identifying populations with higher rates of poor health outcomes
- Informing interventions and policies
- Increasing awareness of risk factors
- Understanding distribution and trends over location and time
- Evaluating the effectiveness of existing and new prevention programs
- Examining potential connections to environmental exposures