Annual Summary of Vital Statistics: 2006

Abstract

The number of births in the United States decreased by 3% between 2008 and 2009 to 4 130 665 births. The general fertility rate also declined 3% to 66.7 per 1000 women. The teenage birth rate fell 6% to 39.1 per 1000. Birth rates also declined for women 20 to 39 years and for all 5-year groups, but the rate for women 40 to 44 years continued to rise. The percentage of all births to unmarried women increased to 41.0% in 2009, up from 40.6% in 2008. In 2009, 32.9% of all births occurred by cesarean delivery, continuing its rise. The 2009 preterm birth rate declined for the third year in a row to 12.18%. The lowbirth-weight rate was unchanged in 2009 at 8.16%. Both twin and triplet and higher order birth rates increased. The infant mortality rate was 6.42 infant deaths per 1000 live births in 2009. The rate is significantly lower than the rate of 6.61 in 2008. Linked birth and infant death data from 2007 showed that non-Hispanic black infants continued to have much higher mortality rates than non-Hispanic white and Hispanic infants. Life expectancy at birth was 78.2 years in 2009. Crude death rates for children and adolescents aged 1 to 19 years decreased by 6.5% between 2008 and 2009. Unintentional injuries and homicide, the first and second leading causes of death jointly accounted for 48.6% of all deaths to children and adolescents in 2009.

Incubator weaning in preterm infants and associated practice variation

“…There were 4 265 996 births estimated in 2006, which was a 3% increase compared with 2005. 18 A conservative estimate of 10% births leading to NICU admissions with roughly 15% of these admissions less than 31-weeks gestation results in 63 990 such infants annually. Additional annual costs for all infants would extrapolate to $160 million for every 100 g incremental delay in incubator weaning to an open crib based on an average daily charge of $2500.…”

The influence of amino-acid supplementation, gestational age and time on thyroxine levels in premature neonates

“…Premature deliveries account for approximately 12.5% of all births in the United States and The National Center for Health Statistics estimates that over 500 000 babies are born prematurely each year. 3 Congenital hypothyroidism is estimated to occur in 1 in 4000 newborns and hypothyroidism that goes undetected results in poor growth and developmental delay. 2 Thyroxine levels are lower in sick preterm neonates than those in well preterm neonates.…”

Unintentional exposure of neonates to conventional radiography in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units

“…[1][2][3] In the last decade, the survival of preterm infants has risen to nearly 90%, especially of those with a very low birth weight of less than 1500 g. Even infants with a birth weight of less than 750 g have a survival rate of 55%. [1][2][3] Advanced neonatal care has also increase the survival of term infants with serious diseases caused by either congenital anomalies or a complicated neonatal course. These high-risk infants are prone to a variety of diseases and morbidities such as respiratory distress syndrome, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, patent ductus arteriosus and necrotizing enterocolitis.…”

“…These high-risk infants are prone to a variety of diseases and morbidities such as respiratory distress syndrome, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, patent ductus arteriosus and necrotizing enterocolitis. [1][2][3] During their prolonged and complicated medical course in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs), these neonates are exposed to repeated diagnostic procedures that involve X-ray radiation. [4][5][6] Owing to the high frequency of respiratory disease and other morbidities, these infants continue to require additional X-ray evaluations through early childhood and over time could receive substantial accumulating doses of radiation.…”