2003 Louisiana Vital Statistics Report - Louisiana Department of ...

LIVE BIRTHS 2003 LOUISIANA VITAL STATISTICS REPORT
Table 2.29: Number and Percent of Pre-Term Live Births (Less Than 37 Weeks) by Maternal Age and Race
Louisiana, 2003
Maternal Age Group
Maternal
Race
Less than 20 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40 & older All Ages
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
All Races +++ 1339 13.9 2615 12.3 2023 12.1 1465 13.0 676 14.0 155 16.3 8273 12.8
White 456 11.6 1061 9.8 1040 10.0 897 11.3 379 11.5 82 13.4 3915 10.6
Black 875 15.7 1518 15.2 935 16.1 527 18.2 267 20.0 68 22.3 4190 16.2
+++ All Races includes White, Black and Other. Source: Louisiana State Center for Health Statistics.
Multiple Births
Out of 64,689 live births to Louisiana residents in 2003, 62,615 (96.8%) were single deliveries, 1,950 (3.0%) were twins, 111
(0.2%) were triplets, 8 were quadruplets and 5 were quintuplets.
Apgar Score
The Apgar score is a composite measure of the physical health of an infant shortly after birth. It is assessed at one and five
minutes after birth, and is used to predict the infant’s chances of survival.
Five easily identifiable characteristics – heart rate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, reflex irritability, and color – are each
assessed on a scale of zero to two, with two being optimal.
The Apgar score is the sum of these scores; a score of seven or higher (to a maximum of ten) indicates the infant is in good
physical condition. As the five-minute score is generally considered to be a better predictor of survival, it is the score reported
here. In 2003, 162 births in Louisiana (0.25%) did not have a recorded five-minute Apgar score.
Out of 64,689 live births, 98.34% (63,615) infants had a five-minute Apgar score of at least 7.
Table 2.30: Number and Percent of Births with Five-Minute Apgar Score
Below Normal by Maternal Race, Louisiana, 2003
Maternal Race
White Black Other All Races +++
Number 333 559 20 912
Percent 0.9 2.2 1.3 1.4
+++ All Races includes White, Black and Other. Source: Louisiana State Center for Health Statistics.
Table 2.31: Number and Percent of Births with Five-Minute Apgar Scores
Below Normal by Maternal Age, Louisiana, 2003
Maternal Age
Less than 20 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40 & older All Ages
Number 172 297 232 123 72 16 912
Percent 1.8 1.4 1.4 1.1 1.5 1.7 1.4
Source: Louisiana State Center for Health Statistics.
Congenital Anomalies
Congenital anomalies are recorded on the birth certificate by checking any of 22 listed anomalies, or by specifying “none” or
“other”. More than one anomaly can be checked on a birth certificate. Because these events occur so infrequently, rates have
been calculated for categories of anomalies. In the year 2003, there were 617 birth certificates with at least one congenital
anomaly reported. A total of 678 congenital anomalies were reported (Table 2.33).
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Louisiana Office of Public Health, State Center for Health Statistics Page 32