Fetal and infant mortality 2006, 2007 and 2008 (provisional)
Definitions
Fetal death, stillbirth
Death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception,
irrespective of duration of pregnancy; the death is indicated by the fact that after such separation
the fetus does not breathe or show any other evidence of life such as beating of the heart, pulsation
of the umbilical cord or definite movement of voluntary muscles (WHO).
The statistics in this publication include only fetal deaths (known also as stillbirths) of 20 weeks’ or
more gestation, or 400g or more birthweight. This is in line with the Births, Deaths, Marriages and
Relationships Registration Act 1995, which defines a stillborn child as ‘a dead foetus that:
(a) weighed 400 g or more when it issued from its mother; or
(b) issued from its mother after the 20th week of pregnancy.’
Perinatal deaths consist of fetal deaths and deaths in the first week of life (early neonates).
A neonatal death is defined as the death of a liveborn infant before the 28th day of life, and a postneonatal death as the death of a liveborn infant between the 28th day and the first year of life.
An infant death is defined as a liveborn infant dying before the first year of life is completed.
The Ministry of Health applies these definitions and assigns the underlying cause of death in
accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) rules and guidelines for mortality coding.
These fetal and infant death classifications are illustrated in the following diagram:
Note regarding 1998 rates
The 1998 livebirth statistics (used to calculate rates) were affected by problems relating to the
prompt registration of births, and are estimated to be 2500 under-reported. For that reason all rates
in this report are based on livebirth statistics for 1997.
Note regarding low numbers
The numbers of fetal and infant deaths within the Pacific population are relatively small and
therefore more likely to be influenced by random variation. Any conclusions drawn from this data
should be treated with caution.
Fetal and infant death numbers can also be low when broken down into categories, such as causes
of death. In these situations, rates of death have not been calculated as the raw number is too low
to produce a meaningful rate.
Note regarding fluctuations in the data.
The data in this publication is collated by year of registration - deaths by year of death registration
and stillbirths by year of birth registration. Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) have traditionally
faced issues in securing timely registrations of stillbirths with the result that many stillbirths are
registered after the actual year of birth. This has resulted in fluctuations in annual stillbirth
registrations.
The data shows that between 2007 and 2008 there has been a large increase in the number of fetal
death registrations (from 471 in 2007 to 555 in 2008). Approximately half of this increase is thought
to be due to natural fluctuations in the data, with the remaining increase almost certainly due to an
improvement in registration process. The data is presented by the year of registration, and in 2008
the registration process was altered. Prior to 2008 any deaths that were known through the hospital
system, but were not known by Births, Deaths and Marriages were registered by the Ministry of
Health after two years had passed. In 2008 the Ministry improved the timeliness of this data
processing by reducing the time to one year. This resulted in an artificial inflation in the 2008
registration data. This process change will only affect one year of data, and will stabilise in 2009.
Fetal and infant mortality rates
Key facts:

The infant mortality rate has shown a downward trend from 1942 to 2004 and then stabilised
between 2005-2008.

There are significant and relatively stable differences in infant mortality rates between Maori
and Other (non Maori, non Pacific) from 1996 to 2008.

In 2008 the Pacific fetal mortality rate is slightly higher than Maori and Other rates. This
trend is generally consistent with previous years.

Congenital abnormalities caused the highest number of infant deaths in 2008.
Figure 1: Fetal and Infant death rates, total population, 1942 to 2008*
Infant death rate†
Rate
45.0
Fetal death rate§ (1995 Registration Act)
Late fetal death rate§ (pre 1995 Act)
40.0
35.0
30.0
25.0
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008*
0.0
Registration Year
§ Rate per 1000 total births.
† Rate per 1000 live births.
*
Data for 2008 is provisional.
Rate per 1000 total births.
† Rate per 1000 live births.
Source: Ministry of Health
§
Note regarding pre-1995/post-1995 fetal death trend:
The Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995 and the Buried and Cremation Act 1964
require a birth registration form and a medical certificate of causes of Fetal and Neonatal Death to
be complete for all fetal deaths. Before 1 September 1995, the legislation required that any fetal
death of 20 weeks or greater period of gestation be issued a medical certificate of cause of death.
However, birth registration was required only for fetuses of 28 or more weeks gestation (termed late
fetal deaths or stillbirths).
Live births, fetal and infant mortality for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008*
The following tables present the numbers and rates of live births, and fetal and infant mortality by
ethnicity of babies, 2006 to 2008*. Early neonatal, Late neonatal and Postneonatal deaths are all
forms of infant mortality. For more information see the diagram on page 1.
Total population
Live births
Total births
Fetal deaths §
Early neonatal deaths†
Late neonatal deaths†
Postneonatal†
Maori
Live births
Total births
Fetal deaths §
Early neonatal deaths†
Late neonatal deaths†
Postneonatal†
Pacific
Live births
Total births
Fetal deaths §
Early neonatal deaths†
Late neonatal deaths†
Postneonatal†
Other
Live births
Total births
Fetal deaths §
Early neonatal deaths†
Late neonatal deaths†
Postneonatal†
§
2006
Number
60274
60683
409
137
28
143
2006
Number
17935
18034
99
52
10
68
2006
Number
6408
6464
56
16
2
23
2006
Number
35931
36185
254
69
16
52
Rate
6.7
2.3
0.5
2.4
Rate
5.5
2.9
0.6
3.8
Rate
8.7
2.5
0.3
3.6
Rate
7.0
1.9
0.4
1.4
2007
Number
65121
65592
471
134
32
146
2007
Number
19338
19464
126
41
12
73
2007
Number
7005
7063
58
16
6
23
2007
Number
38778
39065
287
77
14
50
Rate per 1000 total births.
Rate per 1000 live births.
* Data for 2008 is provisional and subject to change
Source: Ministry of Health.
†
Rate
7.2
2.1
0.5
2.2
Rate
6.5
2.1
0.6
3.8
Rate
8.2
2.3
0.9
3.3
Rate
7.3
2.0
0.4
1.3
2008*
Number Rate
65333
65888
555
8.4
146
2.2
42
0.6
136
2.1
2008*
Number Rate
19452
19622
170
8.7
57
2.9
12
0.6
66
3.4
2008*
Number Rate
7221
7301
80
11.0
19
2.6
7
1.0
17
2.4
2008*
Number Rate
38660
38965
305
7.8
70
1.8
23
0.6
53
1.4
Fetal death rates per 1000 total births by ethnicity, 1996 to 2008*
Rate per 1000 total
births
14.0
Maori
Pacific peoples
12.0
Other
10.0
8.0
6.0
4.0
2.0
0.0
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008*
Year
* Data for 2008 is provisional and subject to change
Source: Ministry of Health.
Infant death rates per 1000 live births by ethnicity, 1996 to 2008*
Rate per 1000 live births
14.0
Maori
12.0
Pacific peoples
Other
10.0
8.0
6.0
4.0
2.0
0.0
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
Year
* Data for 2008 is provisional and subject to change
Source: Ministry of Health
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008*
Infant deaths, rate per 1000 live births, by ethnicity and subclassification, 2008*
Rate per 1000 live births
7
Post-neonatal deaths
6
Late neonatal deaths
Early neonatal deaths
5
4
3
2
1
0
Maori
Pacific
Ethnicity
* Data for 2008 is provisional and subject to change
Source: Ministry of Health
Other
Selected causes of infant mortality: 2006, 2007 and 2008*
Cause of death
Intestinal infectious diseases
Other bacterial diseases
Viral infections / diseases
Mycoses
Malignant neoplasm
Neoplasms, benign or of uncertain/unknown behaviour
Other diseases of blood and blood-forming organs
Metabolic disorders
Diseases of the nervous system
Other forms of heart diseases
Phlebitis and thrombophlebitis
Respiratory diseases (excluding Influenza and pneumonia)
Influenza and pneumonia
Diseases of the digestive system
Systemic connective tissue disorders
Renal diseases
Conditions originating in the perinatal period
Disorders related to length of gestation and fetal growth
Birth trauma
Respiratory and cardiovascular disorders specific to the
perinatal period
Infections specific to the perinatal period
Haemorrhagic and haematological disorders of fetus and
newborn
Transitory endocrine and metabolic disorders specific to
fetus and newborn
Digestive system disorders of fetus and newborn
Conditions involving the integument and temperature
regulation of fetus and newborn
Other disorders originating in the perinatal period
Congenital abnormalities
Ill-defined and unknown causes of mortality
Transport accidents
Other external causes of accidental injury
Assault
Total infant deaths
†
Rate per 1000 live births.
- Zero or nil
¨ Rate too small to be expressed
* Note: Data for 2008 is provisional and subject to change
Source: Ministry of Health
2006
No. Rate†
¨
1
¨
2
¨
3
¨
1
¨
1
¨
3
10
0.2
4
0.1
7
0.1
8
0.1
¨
1
¨
1
122
2.0
43
0.7
2
¨
2007
No. Rate†
¨
1
5
0.1
¨
2
4
0.1
¨
1
¨
1
4
0.1
6
0.1
¨
2
8
0.1
8
0.1
¨
1
123
1.9
48
0.7
1
¨
2008*
No. Rate†
5
0.1
¨
2
1
¨
¨
1
¨
1
1
¨
¨
2
4
0.1
4
0.1
¨
1
¨
3
8
0.1
¨
3
¨
1
139
2.1
48
0.7
1
¨
34
10
0.6
0.2
35
5
0.5
0.1
42
10
0.6
0.2
8
0.1
13
0.2
10
0.2
8
0.1
1
2
¨
¨
8
0.1
1
16
73
45
21
5
308
¨
0.3
1.2
0.7
0.3
0.1
5.1
3
15
71
40
3
30
2
312
¨
0.2
1.1
0.6
¨
0.5
¨
4.8
3
17
74
38
3
33
324
¨
0.3
1.1
0.6
¨
0.5
5.0
Further information
For mortality related information, please refer to: http://www.moh.govt.nz/dataandstatistics, contact
Analytical Services: data-enquiries@moh.govt.nz
Source: Ministry of Health Mortality Data as at 14/03/2011