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SELECTED FEATURES
The purpose of this section is to identify and discuss some of the major maternal
and child health indicators for 2001, thereby orienting the reader to the data
presented throughout the report.
NATALITY
Arkansas resident live births decreased slightly from 37,790 in 2000 to 36,982 in
2001, a drop of 2.14 percent. The number of births in 2001 is similar to those of
1998 (36,831). The Crude Live Birth Rate fell from 14.1 to 13.7 per 1,000 persons.
All live births have been classified by race of mother into white, black, and other.
Live births increased slightly for all groups.
The number of live births to adolescent mothers, those under the age of 20, has
continued to decline in Arkansas since 1996, following a nationwide trend. In
1996, 19.3 percent of all live births occurred to teenage women. In 2001, this
percentage dropped to 16.1. Although the percentage of live births occurring to
black women remains higher than those of white mothers (25.5 percent for blacks
vs. 14.2 percent for whites) both races are experiencing a decline.
Live births to unmarried mothers dropped by 139, from 2000 to 2001, going from
13,514 to 13,375. This decrease does not represent a decrease in the percent of all
live births, since there was a larger decrease in total live births for 2001. The
percent, in fact went up from 35.8 in 2000 to 36.2 in 2001.
Of all live births, 8.8 percent, or 3,249 babies, were low birthweight (LBW) births
{weighing less than 2500 grams (5 ½ pounds)}. The proportion of LBW infants
among whites has increased from 7.1 percent in 2000 to 7.5 percent in 2001, the
same as it was in 1998. The number of LBW blacks increased from 13.8 percent in
2000 to 14.0 percent in 2001, even higher than in 1998 when it was 13.9.
A total of 27.7 percent of all deliveries were done by Cesarean section (10,256 out
of 36,982 births). Only 39.1 of the Cesarean section deliveries were repeat
procedures (a previous birth for this mother was also a C-section delivery). (See
page 2-6.)
MORTALITY
Approximately 56 percent (171) of the 307 Arkansans who died before their first
birthday were less than 28 days old (neonatal deaths). The Arkansas infant mortality
rate was 8.3 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000 and 2001, compared with 8.5
deaths per 1,000 live births in 1999 and a national average of 6.8 in 2001. Black
Arkansans had an infant mortality rate of 14.4, compared to a white rate of 6.8.
(See page 3-3.)
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