The purpose of the Fetal and Infant Deaths publication series is to inform discussion and assist in future policy development. Readership of this publication is wide-ranging and the contents reflect this, aiming to meet the needs of all interested parties.
The Fetal and Infant Deaths publication series presents data on deaths that occur before one completed year of life. This edition presents information on the underlying causes of these deaths registered in New Zealand for the 2007 calendar year.
Purpose
The purpose of the Fetal and Infant Deaths publication series is to inform discussion and assist in future policy development. Readership of this publication is wide-ranging, and its contents reflect this, aiming to meet the needs of all interested parties.
The Fetal and Infant Deaths series presents data on deaths that occur before one completed year of life. This edition presents information on the underlying causes of these deaths registered in New Zealand for the calendar year 2007.
Key Results
Fetal and Infant Deaths 2007: Key facts
Deaths
- There were a total of 783 fetal and infant deaths registered in 2007.
- In 2007, 312 infant deaths were registered (4.8 deaths per 1000 live births), and 471 fetal deaths (7.2 deaths per 1000 total births).
- The infant death rate for the total population declined from 7.3 deaths per 1000 live births in 1996 to 4.8 deaths per 1000 live births in 2007.
- In 32.4 percent of 2007 infant deaths, the baby died within the first 24 hours of life.
Ethnicity
- Māori infant deaths in 2007 (126 deaths) accounted for 40.4 percent of all infant deaths.
- Overall, the Māori infant death rate decreased between 1996 and 2007, declining from 11.6 deaths per 1000 live births in 1996 to 6.5 deaths per 1000 live births in 2007.
- The Māori infant death rate was 79.2 percent higher than that of the non-Māori, non-Pacific ethnic group in 2007.
- The Pacific infant death rate was 76.7 percent higher than that of the non-Māori, non-Pacific ethnic group in 2007.
Risk factors
- Babies
- born in multiple births accounted for 14.2 percent of early neonatal deaths in 2007.
- The most deprived areas in New Zealand (that is, areas classed as quintile 5 on the New Zealand Index of Deprivation (NZDep 2001) scale) had high, but decreasing, rates of perinatal deaths compared with other quintiles.
- The most deprived areas in New Zealand had rates of infant deaths more than two-and-a-half times that of the least deprived areas (that is, quintile 1 areas).
- Babies with a birthweight of less than 1000 g and a gestation of less than 32 completed weeks made up 50.6 percent of all neonatal deaths and 6.2 percent of all post-neonatal deaths in 2007.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
- Fifty-six infant deaths were attributed to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in 2007.
- The SIDS rate of 0.9 deaths per 1000 live births in 2007 was similar to the 2006 SIDS figure of 0.8 deaths per 1000 live births.
- Ten SIDS deaths occurred in the neonatal period (less than 28 completed days after birth) and 46 SIDS deaths occurred in the post-neonatal period.