Low birth weight increases the risk for infant mortality and morbidity. As birth weight decreases, the risk for death increases.
Low birth weight infants who survive often require intensive care at birth, may develop chronic illnesses, and later may require
special education services. Health care costs and length of hospital stay are higher for low birth weight infants. Utah inpatient
hospital discharge data (2010) indicate that the average hospital charge for a low birth weight infant was $44,472 compared
to $2,218 for a normal birth weight infant.
Low Birth Weight by Race, Utah, 2009-2011
Data Notes
Low birth weight is defined as less than 2,500 grams (about 5 pounds, 8 ounces).
Data Sources
Utah Birth Certificate Database, Office of Vital Records and Statistics, Utah Department of Health.
The number of live births under 2,500 grams (5 pounds, 8 ounces) divided by the total number of live births over the same
time period.
How We Calculated the Rates
Numerator:
Number of live born infants weighing under 2,500 grams.
Denominator:
Total number of live births.
Page Content Updated On 10/24/2012,
Published on 12/16/2012
Maternal and Infant Health Program, Division of Family Health and Preparedness, Utah Department of Health, Salt Lake City, UT 84114-2002, Telephone: 801-538-9970,
Fax: 801-358-9409, Website: health.utah.gov/mihp, Contact: Laurie Baksh, Email: lbaksh@utah.gov
The information provided above is from the Utah Department of Health's Center for
Health Data IBIS-PH web site (http://ibis.health.utah.gov). The information published
on this website may be reproduced without permission. Please use the following citation:
"Retrieved
Tue, 18 June 2013 1:36:18
from Utah Department of
Health, Center for Health Data, Indicator-Based Information System for Public Health Web
site: http://ibis.health.utah.gov".
