Indicator Report - Very Low Birth Weight
Why Is This Important?
Very low birth weight babies have an extremely high risk for health problems. Advances in newborn medical care have greatly reduced the number of deaths associated with low and very low birth weight. However, a small percentage of survivors develop mental retardation, learning problems, cerebral palsy, and vision and hearing loss.Poor reproductive health and birth outcomes are dependent on a variety of different factors. Some of these factors are well known while many others have not been identified or are less clear. Some known risk factors for having poor reproductive health and birth outcomes are pregnancy history, exposures to infections, use of medicines and exposure to chemicals in the environment, alcohol or drug use, poor medical care, chronic health problems, and smoking as well as socioeconomic factors.
Percentage of Live Born Infants With Very Low Birth Weight by Year, Utah, 1989-2006
Data Sources
Office of Vital Records and Statistics, Utah Department of Health.Other Views
Definition
An infant is considered to have a very low birth weight if they are less than 1,500 grams or about 3.3 pounds at birth. Babies born before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy are called premature. The earlier a baby is born, the less they are likely to weigh.How We Calculated the Rates
| Numerator: | Number of live born infants with a birth weight of less than 1,500 grams or 3.3 pounds. |
| Denominator: | Total number of live born infants in specific time period. |
Page Content Updated On 09/25/2008,
Published on 07/14/2011
