I I 

IL 1 

I I 

J 

I —1 - ——., c 

Midwife and 

Out-of-Hospital 

Deliveries 

United States 

An analysis of the demographic 

characteristics and pregnancy history of 

mothers and birth weight of babies 

delivered in a nonhospital setting or by a 

midwife in a hospital. 

Data from the National Vital


Statistics System


Series 21, No. 40


DHHS Publication No. (PHS) 84-1918 

U.S. Department of Health and Human 

Services 

Public Health Service 

National Center for Health Statistics 

Hyattsville, Md. 

February 1984 
Copyright Information 

All material appearing in this report is In the publlc domain and may 

be reproduced or copied without permission; citatton as to source, 

however, is appreciated. 

Suggested Citation 

National Center for Health Statistics, S. Taffel: Midw!fe and out-ofhospital deliveries, United States, Vital and Hea/th Statistics. 

Series 21, No. 40. DHHS Pub. No. (PHS) 84–1 918. Public Health 

Service. Washington. U.S. Government Printing Office, February 1984. 

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data 

Taffel, Selma. 

Midwife and out-of-hospital deliveries, United 

States. 

(Vital and health statistics. Series 21, Data from 

the nat!onal vital statistics system ; no. 40} 

(DHHS publication : no. (PHS) 84-1918) 

Bibliography: p. 15 

Supt. of Dots. no,: HE 20.6209:21 /40 

1. Childbirth-United States—Statistics. 2. Midwwes-United Statas—Statistics. 3. Birth welght— 

United States—Statistics. 4. Hospitals, Gynecologic 

and obstetric—United States—Statistics. 5. United 

States—Statistics, Medical. 6. United States— 

Statistics, Vital. 1. Title. Il. Series. Ill. Series: 

DHHS publication ; no. (PHS) B4–1 918. [DNLM: 1, Birth 

weight—United States—Statistics, 2. Delive V—United 

States—Statistics. 3. Midwifery-United States— 

Statistics. 4. Nurse midwives—United States— 

Statistics. 5. Pregnancy—United States—Statistics. 

W2 A N148VU no. 40] 

HA21 1.A3 no. 40 [RG530.3, U5] 312’,1’73s 83–600276 

ISBN O–8406-02B5–5 [362,1’982] 
National Center for Health Statistics 

Manning Feinleib, M.D., Dr. P.H., Director 

Robert A. Israel, Deputy Director 

Jacob J. Feldman, Ph.D., Associate Director for Analysis 

and Epidemiology 

Garrie J. Losee, Associate Director for Data Processing 

and Services 

Alvan O. Zarate, Ph.D., Assistant Director for International 

Statistics 

E. Earl Bryant, Associate Directorfor Interview and 

Examination Statistics 

Robert L. Quave, Acting Associate Director for Management 

Gail F. Fisher, Ph.D., Associate Director for Program 

Planning, Evaluation, and Coordination 

Monroe G. Sirken, Ph.D., Associate Director for Research 

and Methodology 

Peter L. Hurley, Associate Director for Vital and Health 

Care Statistics 

Alice Haywood, Information 

Division of Vital Statistics 

John E. Patterson, Director


James A. Weed, Ph.D., DepuQ .Director


Robert L. Heuser; M.A., Chief Natali@ Statistics Branch


Joseph D. Farrell, Chief Computer Applications Staff


Mabel G. Smith, Chiej Statistical Resources Branch


For sole by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Clovernment Printing 05ce, Washin@on, D.C. 20402 

-, 
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Demographic characteristics of the mother . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Race and nativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Residence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Maternal age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Live-birth order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Demographic risk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Marital status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Prenatal care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Birth weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Age and birth order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Education of mother . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Marital status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Prenatal care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Lktofdetailed tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Appendx. Tecluical notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

List of text figures 

1. Percent of live births delivered outside of hospitals by race of child United States, 1935–79 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

2.	 Percent distribution of live births by geographic region for each attendant and place of delivery category according to 

race ofchild United States, 1978–79 average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

3.	 Percent distibution oflivebNs byageofmotier, foreach atiendmt adplace ofdefivewcategow: United States, 

1978-79 average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

4.	 Percent dktribution of live births by live-birth order, for each attendant and place of deliveg category: United States, 

1978–79 average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

5.	 Percent distribution of live births by trimester of pregnancy prenatal care began, for each attendant and place of delivery 

category: Total of reporting areas, 1978–79 average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

6.	 Percent of inf~ts of low birth weight by educational attainment of mother, type of attendant and place of delivery 

Total of reporting areas, 1978–79 average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

List of text tables 

A. Percent of live births of third and higher order by place of delivery, type of attendant, age of mother, and race of child: 

United States, 1978-79 average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

B. Percent of births to mothers at demographic risk by place of delivev, type of attendant, and race of child United States, 

1978–79 average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

c.	 Number of live births and percent distribution by marital status of mother, according to place of delivery, type of 

attendant, andrace ofchild. Total ofreporting areas, 1978-79 average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

D.	 Observed and adjusted percent of infants of low bti weight by place of delivery, type of attendant, and race of child 

United States, 1978-79 average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

1 

3 

4 

5 

5 

5 

5 

7 

7 

8 

9 

10 

12 

12 

12 

12 

13 

15 

16 

39 

4 

6 

7 

8 

11 

14 

9 

9 

10 

13 

.. 

Ill

Symbols 

.-. Data not available 

. . . Category not applicable 

Quantity zero 

0.0 Quantity more than zero but less than 

0.05 

z	 Quantity more than zero but less than 

500’ where numbers are rounded to 

thousands 

* Figure does not meet standards of 

reliability or precision 

iv 

{r 
Midwife and Out-of-Hospital


Deliveries


Selma Taffel, Division of Vital Statistics


Introduction 

Almost all national natality data reflect the characteristics 

of births delivered by physicians in hospitals since tlds group 

accounts for 97 percent of all births (table 1). Consequently, 

there is a paucity of information concerning mothers and birth 

outcome when delive~ is in a nonhospital setting or when 

delivery is by a midwife in a hospital. The demographic characteristics and pregnancy history of these mothers and the health 

of their babies as measured by birth weight are described in this 

report. The information was obtained from entries on live bti 

certificates filed throughout the United States for 1978 and 

1979. Not all States include on their birth certificates all of the 

items discussed, the reporting States for these items are shown 

in table I. 

In all but two tables in this report, data are presented as an 

average of the 2-year period 1978-79 to mintilze the effect of 

random year-to-year fluctuations due to the small number of 

births for some categories. Information on out-of-hospital btis 

attended by persons other than midwives or physicians (probably 

relatives or friends of the mother) or by unspecified attendants 

is shown in all tables to present a complete picture of such 

deliveries. However, the focus of the analysis is on midwife 

and physician out-of-hospital deliveries. 

Information for physician-in-hospital deliveries is shown 

in only four tables of this report. These tables include basic 

data on race of the child and age and residence of the mother. It 

is evident from these data that the distribution of physician-inhospital deliveries is nearly identical to that of all births. Therefore the information shown in o~er tables for “all births” can 

be used as a surrogate for physician-in-hospital deliveries. 

Because the data for this report were derived from birth 

certificates, the figures shown refer to numbers of bhths rather 

than to numbers of mothers. However, for simplicity, the terms 

“mothers” and “women” rather than “births” are often used. 

The child’s racial designation is also used to identify the mother 

since the race of the mother and child are identical for the 

majority of births. 

Three distinct types of women deliver in a nonhospital 

setting. Exact numbers are not available, but the largest group 

is probably composed of women for whom hospital delivery is 

not feasible for geographic or economic reasons. Women in the 

second group choose to deliver at home because of the desire 

for a more natural, family-centered birth experience and the 

opportunity for inunedlate bonding betsveen baby and mother. 

The third group is composed of women who intended to deliver, 

in a hospital but have an accidental delivery at home, usually 

as a result of precipitous labor.1 (The terms “out-of-hospital;’ 

“nonhospital~ and “home deliveries” are used interchangeably 

in thk report.) 

Recently, the development of free-standing bfing centers 

has provided an alternative to home or hospital birth. These 

are facilities that are separate from hospitals, where women 

give bti supervised by nurse-midwives with physician backup. 

As in a home delivery, the emphasis in this setting is for as 

natural a birth as possible. Some birthing centers in the United 

States are considered to be nonhospital facilities because of 

their Iiiited medical resources but many are licensed and classified as “hospital.” The number of births occurring in bkthing 

centers is not known since the centers are usually classified as 

hospital or nonhospital facilities by individual State health 

departments rmd are not separately identified. Consequently, 

in this repent births occurring in birthiig centers are included in 

both the hospital and out-of-hospital categories. 

Nurse-midwives are registered nurses who have obtained 

additional education and trainiig in the care and delivery of 

essentially healthy and normal mothers. They usually work in 

association with and under the supervision of a physician, generally an obstetrician. High-risk mothers (those with major 

medical or obstetrical problems) or mothers who develop complications during pregnancy are referred to physicians for their 

prenatal care and delivery or are collaboratively managed. 

According to a 1976–77 survey of nurse-midwives by the 

American College of Nurse-Midwives,l about half of the nursemidwives who managed deliveries in the United States were 

employed in hospital% only about 12 percent practiced in either 

maternity services operated predominantly by nurse-midwives 

or in private nurse-midwifery practices. An additional 13 percent were in private practice with a physician. The remaining 

nurse-midwives were employed by public health agencies, by 

the U.S. milhary, or by universities and prepaid health plans. 

The number of nurse-midwives has almost doubled every 

decade since the 1950’s. In 1978, there were an estimated 2,200 

nurse-midwives in the United States,* more than 43 percent of 

whom managed delivenes.3 

The lay or “granny” midwife provides assistance to women 

during childbirth in the absence of a medical practitioner. She 

usually has limited formal education and learns midwifery 

largely through apprenticeship. She commonly serves in low 

economic or rural areas. According to the latest available infor-

‘1 
mation, there were approximately 1,800 lay midwives practicing in the United States in 1976, almost half of whom were 

located in Texas.2 The number of lay midwives has declined 

steeply in the last three decades. In 1948, there were an estimated 20,700 practicing lay midwives.4 

For this report, it was not possible to differentiate between 

a nurse-midwife and lay midwife attendant since the entries on 

many State birth certificates do riot make this distinction. 

However, since onIy nurse-midwives are permitted to deliver 

in hospitals, it can be assumed that they constitute all midwife 

deliveries in hospitals. It can also be assumed that a very large 

proportion of home deliveries are managed by lay midwives 

since the 1976–77 survey found that not more than 5 percent 

of all nurse-midwife deliveries were in a nonhospital setting. 

However, there has almost certainly been a substantial increase 

in out-of-hospital deliveries by nurse-midwives since that time.5 

According to this survey, nurse-midwives who managed such 

deliveries practiced mainly in California, Illinois, Kentucky, 

New York City, Texas, and Washington. 1 
In recent years, there has been increasing interest in home 

births and in hospital births attended by midwives. Desire for 

information about them has been stimulated by an increased 

preference for natural chddbirth and by an interest in differences 

between these deliveries and the usual deliveries by physicians 

in hospitals. Data for 1978–79, presented in this report, permit 

such comparisons by a number of variables. 

The number of babies delivered by nurse-midwives in 

hospitals more than doubled between 1975 and 1979, but even 

so they remained a very small proportion of all births. The 

increase was from 19,686 (0.6 percent of all births) in 1975 to 

44,496 (1.3 percent of all births) in 1979. Out-of-hospital 

deliveries remained relatively constant during this period, increasing from 27,297 to 33,914 births (0.9 percent to 1.0 percent 

of all deliveries). 

A number of substantial dfierences are apparent among 

hospital births attended by midwives, home births, and total 

births (predominantly in-hospital btis delivered by physicirms). 

About 30 percent of the mothers attended by midwives in hospitals are black—nearly double the proportion of mothers who 

are black delivering at home with a midwife attending ( 16 percent) or in a hospital with a physician attending ( 16 percent). 

American Indian births (1 percent of all births) accounted for 

4 percent of the midwife-in-hospital births. Other races were 

generally underrepresented in midwife deliveries. 

Foreign-born mothers are more likely than mothers born 

in the United States to be attended by midwives, both in and 

,, :,, 

out of hospitals. About 10 percent of all women giving birth in 

1978-79 were foreign born but 15 percent of women attended 

by midwives in hospitals and 29 percent of the women attended 

by midwives at home were of foreign nativity. Ahnost all of the 

foreign-born mothers delivering at home (89 percent) were born 

in Mexico. 

Women delivering at home tend to be older than either 

physician-attended or midwife-attended women delivering in 

hospitals and are far more likely to be having a third, fourth, or 

higher order child and less likely to be having their first child. 

Mothers having home deliveries or midwife-attended hospital deliveries are less likely to have completed high school 

than mothers delivered in hospitals by physicians. Additionally, 

mothers attended by midwives at home are more likely to have 

completed college than women delivering at home with other 

attendants or women who deliver in hospitals. White women 

attended by midwives or “others” at home have the highest 

median years of schooling ( 12.8) and black women giving birth 

at home with a midwife attending have the lowest medkm years 

of schooling (1 1.4). 

The percent of infants with low birth weight, less than 2,500 

grams or 5% pounds, is lower for midwife-attended home and 

hospital births than for other births. This is partially explained 

by the referral to physicians of high risk mothers and by the 

large proportion of Mexican women having home births, since 

Mexican women have fewer low birth weight babies than other 

Hispanic women or black women. 

3 
Trends€

Until about 1940, the majority of babies in the United 

States were born at home. From 1940 to 1970, there was a 

dramatic decline in the proportion of births delivered outside of 

a hospital—from 44.2 percent to 0.6 percent. Although there 

has been a small rise in such deliveries since the low point of 

1970, the proportion has not risen above one percent, the level 

it remained at from 1977 to 1979 (table 1). These overall figures 

primarily reflect the trend in out-of-hospital deliveries of white 

births. The proportion of babies of other races delivered, in a 

nonhospital setting continued to decline after 1970~ and by 

1979 was lower than that of white births (0.8 percent compared

with 1.0 percent) (table 1 and figure 1).

The 33,914 births delivered outside of hospitals in 1979

were attended in about equal numbers by physicians, midwives,

100


80


60


40


20


10


8


1


0.8 

0.6 

0.4 

0.2 

0.1 

1935 1940 1945 1950 1955


and other or unspecified attendants. This is in sharp contrast to 

several decades ago. In 1940 about four-fifths of home births 

were attended by physicians, and about one-fifth by midwives. 

Only about 1 percent of home births were attended by other or 

unspecified persons. 

Coincident with the recent rise in nonhospital deliveries is 

the growing number of hospital births attended. by midwives. 

National information on the number of midwife deliveries in 

hospitals has been available only since 1975. The number of 

such births has risen from 19,686 (0.6 percent of all births) in 

1975 to 44,496 (1.3 perceht) in 1979. Some of this increase 

may reflect the concomitant drop in the number of hospital 

births when the attendant was not stated on the birth 

certificate, 

100


80


60


40


20


10


8


6


4


2


1


“0.8 

‘0.6 

0.4 

0.2 

0.1 

1960 1965 1970 1975 1980


Year 

Figure 1. Percent of live births delivered outside of hospitals by race of child: United States, 1936-79


4

Demographic characteristics 

of the mother 

Race and nativity 

In 1978–79, more than 80 percent of the mothers giving 

birth outside of hospitals were white, and 15 percent were black. 

This is similar to the racial composition of all women giving 

birth during this time period (table 2). In shmp contras~ only 

64 percent of the mothers attended by midwives in hospitals 

were white and 30 percent were black, about double the proportion of all women giving birth or those giving birth at home 

that were black. With the exception of American Indian women, 

few women of other races had home deliveries or midwifeattended hospital deliveries. American Indian births accounted for 4 percent of the midwife-in-hospital deliveries 

but they represented only 1 percent of all births during 

these years. 

Foreign-born mothers are more likely than native-born 

mothers to be attended by midwives, both at home and in a 

hospital. About 10 percent of all women giving bkth in 1978–79 

were foreign bonx 29 percent of the women attended by midwives at home were of foreign nativity, almost all (89 percent) 

born in Mexico. Fifteen percent of the mothers attended by 

midwives in hospitals were foreign born. The proportion of 

mothers who were native or foreign born, with separate information for those born in Puerto Rico, Cuba, or Mexico, 

according to the attendant and place of delivery, is shown in 

table 3. Since the vast majority of all bh-ths to mothers of Hispanic nativity are white, the few black births of such nativity 

are not shown separately. 

Residence 

There are substantial differences in place of residence for 

mothers delivering in hospitals compared with mothers delivering at home. Almost half of the women attended by midwives 

in hospitals (44 percent) resided in the South Region (see the 

appendix for States in each geographic region). Large numbers 

also lived in the Northeast Region (23 percent) and in the West 

Region (24 percent). Over half of those living in the Northeast 

Region resided in cities of 1,000,000 or more population 

while those living in the North Central, South, and West 

Regions resided mainly in rural areas and in small cities 

(tables 4 and 5). 

A far larger proportion of women with home deliveries 

attended by midwives lived in the South (72 percent), and relatively fewer lived in the West (16 percent), in the Northeast 

(9 percent), or in the North Central region (3 percent). In all 

. . . . 

regions the great majority of these mothers lived in rural areas 

or in cities with less than 50,000 population. 

Among mothers attended at home by physicians, the 

smallest number lived in the Northeast (15 percent), with the 

remainiig women living in about equal numbers in the North 

Central, South, and West Regions. These women lived primarily 

in rural areas or in small cities with less than 50,000 population. Mothers attended at home by “others” lived predominantly 

in the West, as dld those delivering at home with the attendant 

not stated on the bkth certificate. 

These data primarily reflect the residence of white mothers 

and even larger differences in place of residence are apparent 

for black women (figure 2). Nearly one-third (31 percent) of 

the black women who gave birth in hospitals with a midwife 

attendant lived in the Northeast. Three-quarters of these mothers 

resided in large urban places with populations of 1,000,000 or 

more. 

Almost all black mothers (92 percent) attended at home 

by midwives lived in the South, appreciably more than the proportion of all black mothers living in this region (53 percent). A 

greater than average proportion of black women attended by 

physicians at home (67 percent) and by midwives in hospitals 

(61 percent) also lived in the South. 

The number of inhospital and out-of-hospital deliveries by 

attendant for individual States are shown in table 6. 

Maternal age 

A woman’s age at time of childbirth is an important 

determinant of her baby’s health and often plays a critical role 

in her pregnancy experience. Very young girls and women in 

the oldest years of childbearing have a greater risk of bearing a 

low-birth-weight baby,6 and infants of mothers aged 35 years 

and older are far more liiely to be born with a congenital defect.7 

Older women are also more likely to start pregnancy with an 

underlying medical condition, which is associated with a higher 

incidence of complications during pregnancy.s 

About one-fifth of the white mothers attended by midwives 

in hospitals were under 20 years old—about twice the proportion in Wls age group attended by midwives and physicians at 

home and nearly 1?4 times the proportion of all white mothers 

under 20 years of age (table 7). During 1978–79, 28 percent of 

all black births in the United States were to teenage girls. This 

was double the percentage of white births to teenage girls. An 

even higher proportion of the black mothers attended by midwives in hospitals and by physicians at home were in their 

5 
---

‘Northeast 

� White 

m North Central 

$ � Black n 

= 

< South 53 

West 

30 

z 

.= 

~ North Central 

c 

.-c 

a 

= 

3 South 61 ~ 

z 

........................................................ . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .~. . . . . 28 Weat 

Northeaat 

-6 

R 

m 

2 

.-

c 

5 

c 

.*al South 92 

3

-0.-

> 

West 

Northeast

-6.E 

n

In 

2 North Central 29 

,-c 

5 

c 

c 

,s South 

S 

~ 

c

L 34 

West 

I I 1 I I 1 I I I J 

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 BO 90 100 

Percent of live births 

Figure 2. Percent distribution of live births by geographic region for each attandant and place of delivery category according to race of child: 

United States, 1976-79 average 

teens (33 and 30 percent, respectively). Relatively fewer black deliveries were 30–34 years of age, compared with 11 percent 

mothers delivered at home by midwives were under 20 years of of the mothers delivered by midwives in hospitals. Even larger 

age (26 percent of the total). differences were apparent for women in the oldest years of 

Women giving birth at home were more likely to be in the childbearing. About twice the proportion of women with home 

older years of childbearing than women delivering in hospitals deliveries than with midwifein-hospital deliveries were 35 years 

(figure 3). Between 16 and 18 percent of women with home of age or more (6 to 7 percent compared with 3 percent). 

6 
40 

37 � All births 

� Vlidwifein hospital 

�~ Midwife notin hospital 

30 � Physician notin hospital 

16 16 

10 

6 

5 . .... 4 ...... .	..... 3	 . . . V...

:.:.:. 

...... ...... . . . :.:.:. 

. . . 0 E/D 

15-19 years 20-24 years 25-29 years 30-34 years 35-39 years 

Age of mother 

Figure 3. Percent distribution of live births by age of mother, for each attendant and place of delivery category United States, 197S-79 average 

Live-birth order 

Women delivering in hospitals were far more likely to be 

having their first child and less likely to be having a third, fourth, 

or higher order birth than women delivering at home (table 8 

and figure 4). About 42 percent of women with hospital deliveries were having their first child, compared with only 26 

percent of women with home deliveries attended by midwives 

and 32 percent of the women attended by physicians at home. 

Similar large differences were found for both white and black 

mothers. 

Differences in the ages of these mothers do not filly explain 

the proportionately larger number of higher order births in home 

deliveries. As shown in table A, women in each age group 

delivering at home were more likely than women delivering in 

hospitals to be bearing a third or higher order child. As noted 

earlier, more than one-quarter of the women attended by midwives at home were born in Mexico, more than nine times the 

proportion of all women delivering at this time who were of 

Mexican nativity. Women of Mexican origin have higher fertility than do other Hispanic or non-Hispanic women,g which is 

one reason for the disproportionate number of higher order births 

in home deliveries attended by midwives. The role played by a 

previous childbirth experience in the choice of attendant for the 

present birth is unknown since information for prior bh-ths is 

not available from birth certificates. 

Demographic risk 

The age of the mother and total-birth order of the child 

(the sum of the live births and fetal deaths that a mother has 

had, including the present delivery) considered together can be 

used as an indicator of an infant’s chance of survival. 10’11Infants 

born to mothers under 15 years of age and to mothers aged 40 

years and over have less chance of surviving past the first year 

of life than do infants born to mothers at intermediate ages, 

regardless of birth order. There is also an increased risk of 

death during infancy for second or higher order babies of mothers 

in their ~eens and for babies of older mothers at extreme birth 

orders. For this report, mothers in these categories are considered as a group and are referred to as mothers at demographic 

risk. It can be assumed that a substantial number of women at 

demographic risk also had preexisting medical or antepartum 

obstetric conditions that could adversely affect their infant’s 

health or survival. In one study,l 1 medical and obstetric conditions such as syphillis, tuberculosis, and malformed pelvis were 

found to be more common among women who had been classified 

at demographic or socioeconomic risk than among those not so 

classified. A more complete description of the age and totalbiit.h order combinations included in the demographic risk 

category are in the appendix. 

Women having home deliveries were more likely than 

women delivering in hospitals to be at demographic risk (table 

7 

, 
All births 

Midwife in hospitsl 

42 42 Ezl 

•!

~. Midwife not in hospital 

u Physician not in hospital 

32 

31 

28 

20 

18 18-

First child Second child Third child Fourth child or more 

Live-birth order 

Figure 4. Percent distribution of live births by live-birth order, for each 

B). About 30 percent of the women with a home birth attended 

by a midwife were at risk, about twice the national average of 

15 percent and higher than the proportion at risk for other outof-hospital categories. Women delivered by midwives in hospitals were also more likely than the average mother to be at 

risk (20 percent). Black mothers, regardless of location of delivery or attendant, were more than 1?4times as likely as white 

mothers to be at demographic risk. The prenatal care received 

by mothers at risk is discussed later in this report. 

Education 

When interpreting data on educational attainment, it should 

be kept in mind that Texas, where 55 percent of all home births 

delivered by midwives occumed, does not request this item on 

the birth certificate. Information on education of the mother is 

also lacking for California, Mew Mexico, and Washington, 

with a combined total of 6 percent of midwife-delivered home 

births and 22 percent of the physician-delivered home births. 

These four States also accounted for 16 percent of all midwifeattendant and place of delivery category United States, 197S-79 average 

in-hospital deliveries. Texas, California, and New Mexico have 

large Hispanic populations. If information on educational attainment of mothers were available for these States, the relationships by attendant shown in this report would undoubtedly 

be different because of the relatively lower educational attainment of Hispanic mothers.9 

The’re are two distinct groups of women having out-ofhospital deliveries in greater than average numbers-those who 

completed only 8 years of school or less and those who completed one or more years of college. Women attended by midwives in hospitals were also more likely than the average mother 

to have completed only 8 years of school or less, but were not 

as likely as any other group to have completed one or more 

years of college (table 9). 

There are large racial differences in educational attainment 

when delivery is at home or with a midwife attendant in a hospital. While 44 percent of the white women delivering at home 

with a midwife attendant had completed 13 years or more of 

school, only 9 percent of their black counterparts had achieved 

this educational level. On the other hand, there were propor8 
Table A. Percent of live births of third and higher order by place of delivery, type of attendant, age of mother, and race of child: United States, 

197S-79 averaga 

Not in hospital 

All Midwife 

live - in ,, Not 

Race of child and age of mother biithsl hospital Midwife Physician Other stated 

Allraces2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.3 26.9 45.9 37.7 42.4 42.1 

Under 20years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 3.9 10.2 5.8 6.8 6.9 

2G24years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.B 21.3 36.0 25.1 26.8 27.1 

25-29 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29.9 37.8 51.0 43.3 46.3 43.6 

30-34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48.3 55.0 68.5 62.5 65.7 69.7 

35-39 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68.4 75.0 86.2 80.1 84.4 84.7 

40 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81.4 89.3 92.3 90.8 92.7 81.5 , 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.1 24.2 44.5 36.8 42.0 41.1 

Under 20years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 2.8 9.1 3.7 4.4 6.2 

2Cr-24 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.3 17.2 32.4 20.7 24.6 24.3 

25-29 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.7 32.0 48.4 40.7 45.0 41.6 

30-34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47.1 49.6 66.3 60.5 65.1 68.9 

35-39 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67.8 69.1 84.8 79.5 84.2 83.8 

40years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.6 86.6 91.1 89.8 92.4 84.4 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.9 30.6 53.6 41.9 46.5 47.8 

Under 20years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6 5.4 12.8 8.5 12.9 9.6 

20-24 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.3 29.4 53.4 41 .B 44.6 41.3 

25-29 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46.0 51.9 73.6 61.0 64.8 61.1 

30-34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61.0 68.5 86.5 78.5 74.6 83.1 

36-39 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75.5 84.2 94.9 85.8 87.5 92.3 

40years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87.0 89.3 100.0 97.1 100.0 *57.1 

1Includes all resident births regardless of attendant or place of delivew. 

‘Includes races other than white and black. 

Table B. Percent of births to mothers at demographic risk by place of delivery, type of attendant, and race of child: United States, 

1976-79 average 

Not in hospital 

All Midwife 

live in Not 

Race of child birthsl hospital Midwife Physician Other stated 

Allrsces2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.3 19.7 29.5 21.9 23.3 23.9 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.7 16.1 27.1 19.5 21.7 21.9 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.1 26.9 42.4 32.2 38.7 36.2 

llncludes all resident births regardleas of attendant or place of delivew. 

‘Inclues racea other than white and black. 

NOTE Mothers at demographic risk are those who are very young, in the oldest years of childbearing, or who had a high or low birth-order child relative to their age. 

See appendix for further details. 

tionately fewer white than black women with less than a grade 

school education having a home delivery attended by amidwife. For midwife deliveries in hospitals, almost twice the proportion of white as black women had completed more than 13 

years of schooling (29 percent compared with 15 percent). 

Overall, white women attended by midwives or “others” at 

home had the highest median years of schoolhg (12.8 years) 

and black women giving bhth at home with a midwife attendant 

the lowest (1 1.4 years). 

Marital status 

There were 11 States that did not include a question on 

marital status on birth certificates during thk period. These 

States (California, Connecticut Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, 

Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, and Texas) 

comprised 40 percent of midwife-in-hospital deliveries, 57 

percent of midwife out-of-hospital deliveries, and 37 percent of 

physician out-of-hospital deliveries. Lack of information on 

marital status for these States may tiect comparisons among 

categories of birth attendants. 

While 17 percent of all mothers in States reporting marital 

:tatus were unmarried at the time of delivery in the 1978–79 

period, a far higher proportion of the women with midwifeattended bi~s in hospitals were unmarried (27 percent). 

Women delivering at home were less likely to be unmarried 

than women attended by midwives in hospitals 15 percent of 

those attended by midwives and “others” and 22 percent of 

those delivered by physicians at home were unmarried. Regardless of the attendant or whether the birth was at home or in a 

hospital, the proportion of black mothers who were unmarried 

was more than 4 times the proportion of whhe mothers who 

were unmarned (table C). 

Almost all mothers under 15 years of age, and about half 

9 
Table C. Number of live births and percent distribution by marital statua of mother, acoording to place of delivery, type of attendant, and race 

of child: Total of reporting areas, 1978-79 average 

Race of child and marital status of mothar 

Al I racesz


Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


White


Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


81ack


Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


Not in hospital 

All Midwife 

live in 

birthsi hospital Midwife Physician Other 

Number 

2,028,390 24,173 4,305 7,436 6.047 

Parcant distribution 

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

83.2 72.8 84.4 78.5 84.9 

16.8 27.2 15.6 21.5 15.1 

Numbar 

1,630,982 15,584 3;081 5,527 5,302 

Percent distribution 

100.0 100,0 100.0 100,0 100.0 

91.2 86.6 91.9 89.1 89.2 

8.8 13.4 8.1 10.9 10.8 

Number 

6,994 1,150 1,737 532 

Percent distribution 

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

45.3 42.3 64.7 44.6 44.6 

54.7 57,7 35.3 55.4 55.4 

Not 

stated 

450 

100.0 

74.5 

25.5 

314 

100.0 

87.6 

12.4 

121 

100.0 

41.9 

58.1 

llncludes all births to mothers residing in areas repoming marital status of mother regardless of attendant or place of delive~. See appendix, Table I for a listing of these 

areas.


‘Includes races other than white and black.


of those aged 15– 19 years were unwed at the time of delivery. 

The proportion of unwed mothers declined with advancing age, 

and was generally lowest for women aged 30-34 years (table 10). 

Prenatal care 

The early initiation of prenatal care afords the opportunity 

to identifJ high risk patients, to treat existing medical problems, 

and to educate the mother about nutrition, exercise, and other 

aspects of pregnancy. 12Information on who provides prenatal 

care is not recorded on birth certificates; only the attendant at 

ddivery is recorded. The attendant at delivery and provider of 

prenatal care are not necessarily the same person, although this 

is probably true for the large majority of births. 

During the 1978–79 period, three-quarters of all mothers 

made their initial prenatal visit during the first trimester (three 

months) of pregnancy. Women delivering in hospitals attended 

by midwives were more likely to delay care; only 57 percent of 

these mothers made their initial visit during the first trimester. 

Even relatively fewer women delivering at home started care 

this early—slightly more than one-half of those attended by 

midwives, 55 percent attended by physicians, and 53 percent 

attended by “others” (table 11 and figure 5). 

The proportion of women starting care in late pregnancy 

(third trimester) or receiving no care was 1!4 to 2 times as high 

when birth was at home (16 to 25 percent) as when delivery was 

in a hospital attended by a midwife (11 percent). For afl groups, 

care was started earlier for white than for black mothers, and 

proportionately fewer white mothers had late or no care. 

White mothers attended by midwives in hospitals made an 

average of 11.0 prenatal visits; black mothers averaged 9.4 

visits. Racial differences were even more pronounced for 

mothers with home births. For midwife-attended home deliveries, 

white mothers averaged 10.1 visits compared with only 6.3 

visits for black mothers. For physician-attended home deliveries, 

the median number of visits was 9.3 for white mothers and 6.8 

for black mothers. 

Women at demographic risk were much more likely than 

those not at risk to start prenatal care late in pregnancy or to 

receive no care at all (table 12). About 17 percent of the women 

,at risk with midwife-in-hospital deliveries, and 24–37 percent 

of the women at risk delivering at home started care in the third 

trimester of pregnancy or received no care. These proportions 

were considerably higher than the proportion of all women at 

risk who had late or no care (10 percent). As noted earlier, 

women at demographic risk are proba,bly more likely than other 

women to have a pre-existing medical or prenatal obstetric 

condition which would affect pregnWcy outcome. Delay in 

seeking care can therefore be particularly detrimental to these 

women and their babies. 

10 
...

� 

80 

� All births 

75 

Izz 

%.$ 

70 El 

60 

55 

— 

. 

50 

32 

30 29 

— 

20 

11 

.......... .......... . . . . . 9 10 8 :.:.:.:.> 

. . . . . :.:.:.:+ 

:>jj$j 

.......... 

+:+x 4 :.:.:.y..

. . . . . ::~.::: 

::::>.:::: 

:.:.:.y..

..../....

. . . . . ..:.%%.. 0 m 

First trimester Second trimester Third trimester 

Trimester of pregnancy prenatal care began 

Midwife in hospital 

Midwife not in hospital 

Physician not in hospital ’

A

:.: ..%:y10

... 6

. . . . . :.:.%.:.

..%..,.% :.:.:.:+ 

. . . . . 3 ~.::: 

:.:.-

. . . . . 1 :.:.= 

.......... ...%..%. 

No care 

Figure 5. Percent distribution of live births by trimester of pregnancy prenatal care began, for each attendant and place of delivery category 

Total of reporting areas, 1976-79 average 

11

Birth weight


Low birth weight (less than 2,500 grams or 5?4 pounds) 

has been associated with a greatly elevated risk of infant mortality, 13 congenital malformations, 7 and other phy~ical and 

mental impairments. ]4 Patterns of low birth weight are examined in this study according to the race and birth order of the 

child, and the age, education, marital status, and prenatal care 

of the mother. These factors all have a bearing on ~rth-weight 

outcomes Infants with excessive fetal growth, sometunes defined 

as birth weight of 4,000 grams (8 lb 13 OZ)or more, are also at 

a somewhat greater risk of morbidity, although most infants of 

this size have normal development.14 

It should be borne in mind when interpreting data shown in 

this section that differences in birth outcome are partly due to 

the screening process performed by midwives. Women initially 

judged to be at medical risk or who develop si@lcant complications during pregnancy are generally referred to physicians 

for further prenatal care and delivery. Additionally, the high 

proportion of Mexican women with home deliveries aflfectsbirth 

weight comparisons for white mothers. Mexican mothers have 

fewer low-birth-weight infants than other mothers.g 

Proportionately more babies born at home weighed 4,000 

grams or more ( 13-18 percent) than babies delivered by midwives in hospitals (9 percent) or than all babies, ( 10 percent). 

The same pattern of larger babies in home than hospital deliveries is evident for both white and black births (table 13). 

The proportion of babies born at home weighing less than 

5% pounds varied widely by attendant. Only 4 percent of babies 

in midwife-attended home deliveries weighed this little, compared with 9 percent of those in physician-attended home deliveries and 7 percent attended by “others” at home. Five 

percent of the babies delivered by midwives in hospitals were 

of low birth weight. 

Age and birth order 

Mothers under 15 years of age were more likely to give 

birth to low-birth-weight infants than mothers of other ages, no 

matter who attended the birth. The proportion of low-birthweight babies born to these young girls ranged from 11 percent 

for midwife-attended hospital deliveries to 39 percent for deliveries at home attended by “other” persons. Older teenagers 

were also more likely to bear low-birth-weight babies, with the 

risk of this outcome about the same for midwife-attended hospital and midwife-attended home deliveries (7 and 6 percent, 

respectively), but rising to 18 percent for home deliveries attended by “others.” The optimum age for childbearing was 

25-34 years of age regardless of attendant (table 14). 

The risk of low birth weight also differed by the birth order 

of the child. First and fourth and higher order births were more 

likely to be of low birth weight for all attendant groups, a refle~ 

tion of the larger proportions of very young mothers having first 

births and mothers in the most advanced childbearing years 

having higher order births (table 15). 

As previously noted, a mother’s age and the birth order of 

the child vary greatly according to place of delivery and attendant. To determine how much of the differences observed in 

the incidence of low birth wei~t by attendant was due to these 

variations, the percent low birth weight was recomputed for 

each attendant and place of delivery category. It was assumed 

that for each group the age and birth-order distribution was the 

same as for all births (see the appendix for a further explanation of this procedure). The results shown in table D indicate 

~at even after adjustment for these dissimilarities, almost all of 

the originally observed differences in percent low birth weight 

remain for both black and whhe births. 

Education of mother 

In the United States, mothers with the highest levels of 

schooling are least likely to bear a low-birth-weight baby.c This 

was also true for midwife-attended hospital and all home deliveries; the percent low birth weight was fiighest for infants of 

women with only 9– 11 years of schooling and decreased for 

women with higher levels of educational attainment (table 16 

and fi,gure 6). The decrease was most dramatic for home deliveries attended by physicians—from 14 percent for women 

with 9– 11 years of schooling to 4 percent for women who had 

completed college. The increased risk of low birth weight for 

babies born to women with 9-11 years of schooling compared 

with births to women with lesser schooling, regardless of attendant, probably reflects the higher incidence of fetal deaths 

for women with no more than a grade school education.b 

Information on educational attainment is lacking for several 

States with large numbers of home and midwife-in-hospital 

deliveries. These findings are relevant to the reporting areas 

only and may not be representative of all births in the United 

States. 

Marital status 

Unmarried women were 2 to 3% times as likely to bear a 

low-birth-weight baby as were married women, regardless of 

attendant (table 17). For both married and unmarried mothers, 

infants delivered by midwives (in a hospital or at home) were 

12

Table D. Obsarved and adjusted percent of infants of low birth weight by place of delive~, type of attendant, and race of child: United States, 

1978-79 average 

Not in hospital 

All Midwife 

live in Not 

Race of child birthsl hospital Midwife Physician Other stated 

All racesz 

Observed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.0 4.9 3.8 8.5 7.3 8.9 

Adjusted3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.0 4.6 3.6 8.6 8.3 9.4 

White 

Obsewed 5.9 3.6 3.1 6.4 5.8 6.6 

Adjusted:: ::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::: 5.9 3.4 3.0 6.9 6.7 7.0 

81ack 

Observed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.7 8.0 7.2 16.3 21.0 22.8 

Adjusted3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.7 7.9 7.1 16,2 21.5 23.0 

1Includes all resident births, regardless of type of strendant or place of delive!y. 

‘Includes racea other than white and black. 

3Adjusted to reflect the age and bitlh order distribution of all births in the 1978-79 period. 

least likely to weigh less than 5?4 pounds. The percent low 

birth weight for infants born to married women was 4 percent 

for midwife-attended hospital deliveries, 3 percent for midwifeattended home deliveries, and 6 percent for physician-attended 

home deliveries. For unmarried mothers, the percent low bti 

weight was 8 percent for rnidwife-attended hospital deliveries, 

6 percent for midwife-attended home deliveries, and 20 percent 

for physician-attended home deliveries. It should be noted that 

these data refer only to areas reporting marital status. 

Prenatal care 

The provider of prenatal care is not necessmily the attendant 

at delivery. Women being cared for by midwives who develop 

complications during pregnancy will most likely be transferred 

to a physician for the remainder of their prenatal care and for 

delivery. 

There was no consistent pattern among attendant groups 

in the risk of a low-birth-weight outcome and the tirnkg of the 

initial prenatal visit (table 18). Starting care early in pregnancy 

was not always related to a lower incidence of low-birth-weight 

babies. However, for all attendrmt groups both black and white 

mothers who had no prenatal care were far more Iiiely to bear 

a low-birth-weight baby than when some prenatal care had been 

received. 

These data should be interpreted cautiously. A woman 

whose idial visit was in the first trimester of pregnancy may 

not receive continuous care thereafter. Also, the large differences in the percent low birth weight between births to mothers 

who had received no care and births where mothers had late 

care may be due to the larger proportion of births to mothers 

with no care that are born prematurely.** Mothers who have 

postponed their first prenatal visit until late in pregnancy may 

deliver early and may not have the opportunity to receive care. 

They are then included in the “no care” category. Their premature babies are far more likely than full-term babies to be of 

low birth weight. 

The role played by prenatal care in birth weight outcome 

cannot be judged by these data alone because the content and 

quality of prenatal care cannot be determined horn information 

entered on bhlh certificates. Additionally, better educated 

women are more likely to start care early in pregnancy15 and 

such women are less Iiiely to give birth to a low-weight infant. 

Therefore, the data presented in this report should be used only 

as a general indicator of the relevance of the timing of prenatal 

care. 

13 
J’ 

15 

Years of schooling 

14.1 O-8 

14, 

Iza9-11


fl 

13 12 

Is 13-15 

12 � 16 or more

11 

10.1 

10 

9 

8 

7.1 

7 

6 

5 4.7 

4 

3 

3 

2 

1 

0	 . 

All births Midwife in hospital Midwife not in hospital Physician not in hospital 

Type of attendant and place of delive~ 

Figure 6. Percent of infants of low birth weight by educational attainment of mother, type of attendant and place of delivery: Total of reporting 

areas, 1976-79 average 

14 
References


l~encm Couege of Nume-Midtives: Nurse-Midwl&eryin the United 

States, 1976-77. Washington. 1978. 

zDepafiment of Herdth ad Humrm Services, National Center for 

Health Statistics Unpublished estimates. 

3A~eri~~ collegeof Nume-Midwives: Personal COnIRNU’kdorI— 

Judith Rooks. Washington, 1981. 

4Nationa1 Center for Health Statistics: Heakh Resources Statkti”cs, 

1976-77 Edition. DHEW Pub. No. (PHS) 79–1509. Public Health 

Service. Washington. U. S..Govemrnent Printing Ofiice. 

SAmeric~ College of Nume-Midwivex personal cCmununicatiOn— 

Dr. Constance Adarns. Washington, 1981. 

6Nationalcenterfor Health Statistics, S. Taffek Factors associated 

with low bti weigh~ United States, 1976. Vital and Health Stati”sti”cs. 

Series 21-No. 37. DHEW Pub. No. (PHS) 80-1915. Public Health 

Service. Washington. U.S. Government Printing Oilice, Apr. 1980. 

7Nation~centerfor Health Statistics, S. Taffek Congenital ~om~es 

and bfi injuries among live btis, United States, 1973-74. Vital 

and Health Statistics. Series 21-No. 31. DHEW Pub. No. (PHS) 

79-1909. Public Health Service. Washington. U.S. Govemrnent 

Printing Office, Nov. 1978. 

8P. J. Placek Underlying medical conditions, complications of pregnancy, and complications of labor to mothers of Iegidrnate live hospital 

births in tie United States. Paper presented at the Population Association of America meeting. AtIan@ Apr. 13-15, 1978. 

%Iational Center for Health Statistics, S. J. Ventura Births of Hispanic 

parentage, 1979. Month~ Vital Statistics Repoti. Vol. 31-No. 2, 

Supp. “DHHS pub. No. (PHS) 82-1120. Public Health Service. 

Hyattsville, Md. May 13, 1982. 

l~ation~ Center for Health Statistics, H. M. Vavra ~d L. J. Quereti 

A stidy of infant mortdty from wed records by age of mother, totalbirth order, and other variables, United States. Vital and Health Statistics. Series 20-No. 14. DHEW Pub. No- (HRA) 74-1851. Health 

Resources Adminktration. Washington. U.S. Government Printing 

Office, Sept. 1973. 

1lD. M. Kessner, J. Singer, C. E. Kalk, and E. R. Schlesinger Contrasts in Health Status. Vol. l—Infant Death: An Analysis by 

Maternal Risk and Health Care. Wash@ton. Institute of Medicine, 

National Academy of Sciences, 1973. 

lzAmefic~ college of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: Standards 

for Obstetnc-Gynecologic Services. 5th ed. 1982. 

lsNation~ Center for Health Statistics, R. J. Armstrong A study of 

infant mortdty from linked records by bkth weight, period of gestation, and other variables, United States. Vital and Health Statish.cs. 

Series 20-No. 12. DHEW Pub. No. (HSM) 72-1055. Health Sewices 

and Mental Health Administration. Washington. U.S. Government 

Printing Office, May 1972. 

14L. O. Lubchenccx Long-term outcome, The High Risk Infant. Vol. 

=233-279, Philadelphia. W. B. Saunders Co., 1976. 

lSNation~ Center for Health Statistics, S. Taffek Prenatal care, United 

States, 1969-75. Vital and Health Statistics. Series 21-No. 33. 

DHEW Pub. No. (PHS) 78-1911. Public Herdth Service. Washington. 

U-S. Govenunent Printing Office, Sept. 1978. 

‘6Bureau of the Census Test of bti registration completeness, 1964 

to 1968..1970 Census of Population and Housing, Evaluation and 

Research Program, PHC(E)2. Washington. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1973. 

17L. E. Mel-k Delivexy in the home. Comprehensive Therapy 

4(3)18–26, Mar. 1978. 

15 
List of detailed tables


1.	 Number of live births and percent distribution by place of 11. Number of live births, percent distribution by trimester 

delivery and type of attendant, according to race of child of pregnancy prenatal care began, and median number of 

United States, specified years 1935-60 and eac~ year prenatal visits, according to place of delivery, type of 

1965-79 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 attendant, and race of child Total of reporting areas, 

2. Number of live births and percent distribution by specified 1978-79 average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

race of child, according to place of delivery and type of 12. Number of live births for mothers at demographic risk 

attendark United States, 1978-79 average . . . . . J . . . . . . . 19 and percent distribution by trimester of pregnancy prenatal 

3. Number of live births and percent distribution by nativity of care began, according to place of delivery, type of attendant, 

mother, according to place of delivexy, type of attendant and race of child United States, 1978-79 average . . . . . . . 

and race of child United States, 1978–79 average . . . . . . . 2(I 13. Number of live births and percent distribution by birth 

4. Number of live births and percent distribution by geographic weight, according to place of delivery, type of attendant, 

region, according to place of delivery, type of attendant, and and race of child: United States, 1978-79 average . . . . . . . 

race of child United States, 1978–79 average. . . . . . . . . . . 21 14. Percent of infants of low birth weight by age of mother, 

5.	 Number of live births and percent distribution by size of place of delivery, type of attendan~ and race of child 

place of mother’s residence, according to region, place of United States, 1978-79 average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

delivery, ~pe of attendant, and race of child United States, 15. Percent of infants of low birth weight by live-birth order, 

1978-79 average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 place of delivery, type of attendan~ and race of child 

6. Number of live births by place of delivery, type of attendsn~ United States, 1978-79 average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

and race of child United States and each State, 1978 ind 16. Percent of infants of low birth weight by educational 

1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 attainment of mother, place of delivery, type of attendant, 

7. Number of live births and percent distribution by age of and race of child Total of reporting areas, 1978-79 

mother,	 according to place of delivery, type of attendant, average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

and race of child United States, 1978-79 average . . . . . . . 29 17. Percent of infants of low birth weight by marital status of 

8. Number of live births and percent distribution by live-birth mother, place of delivery, type of attendant, and race of 

order,	 according to place of delivery, type of attendant, child Total of reporting areas, 1978-79 average. . . . . . . . . 

and race of child United States, 1978-79 average . . . . . . . 30 18. Percent of infants of low birth weight by trimester of 

9. Number of live births, percent distribution by educational pregnancy prenatal care began, place of delivery, type of 

attainment of mother, and median years of school completed, attendant, and race of child Total of reporting areas, 

according to place of delivery, type of attendrmt, and race 1978–79 average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

of child Total of reporting areas, 1978-79 average . . . . . . . 31 

10.	 Percent of live births to unmarried women by age of mother, 

place of delivery, type of attendant, and race of child Total 

ofreporting areas, 1978-79 average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 

/ 

16


33 

34 

35 

36 

36 

37 

37 

38 
Table 1. Number of live births and percent distribution by place of delivery and type of attendant, according to race of c~ld: united State% specified Years 1935-60 and each Year 1965-79 

Race and 

year of 

birth of 

child 

All rsces 

1979. . . 

1978. . . 

1977. . . 

1976. . . 

1975. . . 

1974. . . 

1973. . . 

1972. . . 

1971 . . . 

1970. . . 

1969. . . 

1968. . . 

1967. . . 

1966. ., 

1965. . . 

1960. . . 

1955. ,. 

1960. . . 

1945. . . 

1940. . . 

1935... 

White 

1979. . . 

1978. . . 

1977. ., 

1976.. . 

1975 . . . 

1974. . . 

1973. . . 

1972. . . 

1971 . . . 

1970. . . 

1969. . . 

1968. . . 

1967. . . 

1966. . . 

1965. . . 

1960. . . 

1955. . . 

1950... 

1945 . . . 

1940. . . 

1935. . . 

In hospitall Not in hospitalz In hospitall Not in hospita12 

All live Other and Other and Other and Other end 

births Physician Midwife unspecified Physician Midwife unspecific@ Total Physician Midwife unspecified Total Physician Midwife unspecific@ 

Number 

3,494,398 3,393,773 44,496 22,215 

3,333,279 3,221,677 36,282 42,700 

3,326,632 3,203,242 30,635 59,596 

3,167,788 3,055,287 24,656 58,153 

3,144,198 3,026,024 19,686 71,191 / 

3,159,958 3,135,797 

3,136,965 3,114,503 

3,258,411 3,233,703 

3,555,970 3,523,860 

3,731,386 3.708,142 

3,600,206 3,566,260 

3,501,564 3,449,250 

3,520,959 3,459,771 

3,606,274 3,534,608 

3,760,358 3,660,712 

4,257,850 4,114,368 

4,047,295 3,816,810 

3,554,149 3,125,975 

2,735,456 2,155,594 

2,360,399 1,316,768 

11,837 10,363 11,714 

11,806 9,778 11,036 

12,766 9,991 10,402 

11,940 9,574 8,178 

11,265 9,727 6,305 

10,624 10,102 5,435 

6,578 11,443 4,441 

7,177 13,033 4,498 

9,560 17,594 4,956 

5,178 15,308 2,760 

7,520 23,024 3,402 

12,942 33,292 6,080 

13,950 40,210 7,028 

16,798 46,772 8,096 

33,268 55,452 10,926 

49,336 86,076 8,070 

100,756 117,583 10,146 

251,539 161,099 15,536 

402,890 167,605 9,167 

825,271 204,968 13,392 

Percant distribution 

99.0 97,1 1.3 0.6 

99.0 96.7 1.1 1.3 

99.0 96.3 0.9 1.8 

99.1 96.4 0.8 1.8 

99.1 96.2 ~ 

1.0 0.3 

1.0 0.4 

1.0 0.4 

0.9 0.4 

0.9 0.4 

0.8 0.3 

0.7 0.2 

0.8 0.2 

0.9 0.3 

0.6 0.1 

0.9 0.2 

1.5 0.4 

1.7 0.4 

2.0 0.5 

2.6 0.9 

3.4 1.2 

5.6 2.5 

12.0 7.1 

21.2 14.7 

44.2 35,0 

63.1 50.6 

1.0 0.3 

1.0 0.3 

0.9 0.3 

0.8 0,3 

0.7 0.3 

0.7 0.3 

0.5 0.2 

0.5 0.2 

0.5 0,2 

0.3 0.1 

0.4 0.1 

0.6 0.3 

0.6 0.3 

0.7 0.3 

1.1 0.6 

1.2 0.7 

2.5 1,8 

7.2 5.9 

15.7 13.7 

40.1 36.5 

60.4 54.0 

0.3 0.3 

0.3 0.3 

0.3 0.3 

0.3 0.3 

0.3 0.2 

0.3 0.2 

0.4 0.1 

0.4 0.1 

0.5 0.1 

0.4 0.1 

0.6 0.1 

1.0 0.2 

1.1 0,2 

1.3 0.2 

1.5 0.3 

2,0 0.2 

2.9 0.3 

4.5 0.4 

6.1 0.3 

~ ( 

0,3 0.4 

0.3 0.4 

0.3 0.3 

0.2 0,3 

0.2 0,2 

0.2 0.2 

0.2 0.1 

0.2 0.1 

0.2 0.1 

0.1 0.1 

0.2 0.1 

0.2 0.1 

0.3 0.1 

0,3 0.1 

0.3 0,2 

0.4 0.1 

0.6 0.2 

1.1 0.2 

- 3.6 

6.4 

99.2 

99.3 

99.2 

99.1 

99,4 

99.1 

98.5 

96.3 

98.0 

97.4 

96.6 

94.4 

88.0 

76.8 

55.8 

36.9 

99.0 

98.0 

99.1 

99.2 

99.3 

99.3 

99.5 

99.5 

99.5 

99.7 

99.6 

99.4 

99.4 

99.3 

96.9 

96.8 

97.5 

92.8 

84.3 

59.9 

39.6 

99:3 

99.2 

99.1 

99.4 

99.1 

98.5 

98.3 

98.0 

97.4 

96.6 

94.4 

88.0 

78.8 

55.8 

36.9 

97.3 1.0 0.6 

96,9 0.8 1.3 

96.6 0.7 1.8 

96.6 0.5 1.8 

99.5 

99.5 

99.5 

99.7 

99.6 

99.4 

99.4 

99.3 

98.9 

98.8 

97.5 

92.8 

84.3 

59.9 

39,6 

2,155,105 795,629 1,089,832 269,644 

2,808,420 2,733,403 29,086 17,537 

2,681,116 2,598,455 22,319 33,929 

2,691,070 2,600,011 17,935 47,699 

2,567,614 2,486,339 13,733 45,845 

2,551,996 2,465,957 10,076 57,734 # 

2,575,792 2,550,707 

2,551,030 2,538,579 

2,655,568 2,643,113 

2,919,746 2,905,798 

3,091,264 3,081,864 

2,993,614 2,962,254 

2,912,224 2,895,014 

2,922,502 2,903,892 

2,993,230 2,973,236 

3,123,860 3.089,442 

3.600,744 3,555,812 

3,458,448 3,371,416 

9,356 8,879 10,159 

9,136 7,733 9,544 

9,389 7,028 9,008 

8,894 5,824 6,979 

7,818 5,082 5,329 

8,032 4,606 4,447 

4,747 4,366 3,318 

4,795 4,367 3,263 

6,002 4,590 3,356 

3,774 3,674 1,952 

4,300 5,010 2,050 

7,346 6,776 3,088 

7,498 7,616 3,496 

8,450 8,012 3,532 

20,178 6,878 5,362 

26,646 13,556 4,730 

60,738 20,520 5,774 

3,063,627 2,841,930 181,279 33,161 7,257 

2,395,563 2,018,929 329,147 41,128 6,359 

2,067,563 1,238,677 754,746 74,530 

1,888,012 746,974 i,Ol 9,271 121,767 

See footnotes and note at end of table. 

4 
--- --- --- --- ----- -----------

02 Table 1. Number of live birtha artdparcent distribution by place of delive~ and type of attendant, according to rece of child: United Statea, apecifiadyaws 1935-60 and each yaar 

1965-79—Con. 

Race and In hospitalx Not in hospita12 In “hospital~ Not in hospitall 

year of 

birth of All live Other and Other and Other and Other and 

child births Physician Midwife unsp acified3 Physician Midwifa urrspecifierP Total Physician Midwifa urrspecified~ Total Physician Midwifa unspecific@ 

All othar Number Parcent distribution 

1979 . . . O?X3,Y /8 titiu,d Iv .- ..- l?J$4\u . ,--- 4.0 I B .-. L,4tJl I ,484 1,555 YY.Z .- YO.3 L.L ,..

u. I 0.8 0.4 0.2 0.2 

1976. . . 652,163 623,222 13.963 8,771 2,670 2,045 1,492 99.0 95.6 2.1 1.3 1.0 0.4 0.3 0.2 

1977. . . 635,562 603,231 12,700 11,897 3,377 2,963 1,394 98.8 94.9 2.0 1.9 1.2 0.5 0.5 0.2 

1976. . . 600,174 568,948 10,923 12,308 3,046 3,750 1,199 98.7 94.8 1.8 2.1 1.3 0.5 0.6 0.2 

7975. . . 592,202 560,067 9,610 73,457 / 3,447 4,645 976 98.5 \ 94.6 1.6 2.3 1.5 0.6 0.8 0.2 

1974. . . 584.166 575,090 2,592 5,496 988 98.4 98.4 1.6 0.4 0.9 0.2 

1973 . . . 585,935 575,924 1,831 7,057 1,123 98.3 98.3 1.7 0.3 1.2 0.2 

1972. . . 602,853 590,590 2,382 8,666 1,215 98.0 98.0 2.0 0.4 1.4 0.2 

1971 . . . 636,224 618,062 3,558 13,004 1,600 97.1 97.1 2.9 0.6 2.0 0.3 

1970. . . 640,122 626,278 1,404 11,632 608 97.8 97.8 2.2 0.2 1.8 0.1 

1969. . . 606,592 584,006 3,220 18,014 1,352 96.3 96.3 3.7 0.5 3.0 0.2 

1968. . . 589,340 554,236 5,596 26,516 2,992 94.0 94.0 6.0 0.9 4.5 0.5 

1967 . . . 598,457 555,879 6,452 32,594 3,532 92.9 92.9 7.1 1.1 5.4 0.6 

1966. . . 613,044 561,372 8,348 36,760 4,564 91.6 91.6 8.4 1.4 6.3 0.7 

1965. . . 636,498 571,270 13,090 46,574 5,564 89.8 89.8 10.2 2.1 7.3 0.9 

1960. . . 657,106 558,556 22,690 72,520 3,340 85.0 85.0 15.0 3.5 11.0 0.5 

1955 . . . 588,847 447,394 40,018 97,063 4,372 76.0 76.0 24.0 6.8 16.5 0.7 

1950. . . 490,522 284,045 70,260 127,936 8,279 57.9 57.9 42.1 14.3 26.1 1.7 

1945 . . . 339,893 136,665 73,743 126,677 2,608 40.2 40.2 59.8 21.7 37.3 

~ ~ 

1940. . . 292,446 78,091 70,525 26.7 26.7 73.3 24.1 

1935. . . 267,093 48,655 70,561 147;877 18.2 18.2 81.8 26.4 55:4 

Black 

1979. . . 577,855 557,183 13,001 3,061 2,099 1,356 1,155 99.2 96.4 2.2 0.5 0.8 0.4 0.2 0.2 

1978. . . 551,540 527,861 11,549 6,781 2,325 1,924 1,100 99.0 95.7 2.1 1.2 1.0 0.4 0.3 0.2 

1977. . . 544,221 518,069 10,295 8,907 3,044 2,883 1,023 98.7 95.2 1.9 1.6 1.3 0.6 0.5 0.2 

1976. . . 514,479 488,335 8,954 9,858 2,728 3,675 929 98.6 94.9 1.7 1.9 1.4 0.5 0.7 0.2 

1975. . . , 

1974. . . 507.162 498,579 2,325 5,445 813 98.3 98.3 1.7 0.5 1.1 0.2 

1973. . . 512,597 503.137 1,646 6,872 942 98.2 98.2 1.8 0.3 1.3 0.2 

1972. . . 531,329 519,408 2,238 8,587 1,096 97,8 97.8 2.2 0,4 1.6 0.2 

1971 . . . 564,960 547,254 3,372 12,920 1,414 96.9 96.9 3.1 0.6 2.3 0.3 

1970. . . 572,362 558,802 1,328 11,570 662 97.6 97.6 2.4 0.2 2.0 0.1 

1969. . . 543,132 520,892 - 3,092 17,902 1,246 95.9 95.9 4.1 0.6 3.3 0.2 

. . 511,581 4B4,416 78707 10,906 3,161 4,602 789 98.3 94.7 1.5 2.1 1.7 0.6 0.9 0.2 

llncludes births occurring enmute to or on arrival at hospital. 

‘Includes births with place of delive~ not stated. 

3For additional detail, see appendix table Ill. 

NOTE Data by attendant for the years 1975 to 1977 differ from those previously ~blished (see appendix). 
.

Table 2. Number of live births and percent distribution by specified race of child, according to place of delivery and type of attendant United 

States, 1978-79 average 

In hospital Not in hospital 

All live 

Specified rata of child birthsl Physician Midwife Midwifa Physician Other Not stated 

All races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

American Indian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Chinese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Japanese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Filipino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Hawaiian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Other Aaianor Pacific islander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Other races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

All races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

American Indian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Chinese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Japanese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Filipino. , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Hawaiian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Other Asian or Pacific lalander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Other races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

3,413,839 3,307,008 

2,744,768 2,665,499 

564,698 542,267 

33,715 30,959 

11.478 11,184 

8.190 7,954 

13,927 13,478 

6,152 6,058 

27,260 26,220 

3,653 3,390 

100.0 100.0 

80.4 80.6 

16.5 16.4 

1.0 0.9 

0.3 0.3 

0.2 0.2 

0.4 0.4 

0.2 0.2 

0.8 0.8 

0.1 0.1 

Numbe# 

40,389 10,071 11,822 

25.703 8,306 9,246 

12,275 1,640 2,212 

1,685 72 193 

69 7 14 

57 9 21 

117 7 24 

15 2 32 

374 21 74 

95 7 7 

Percent distribution 

100.0 100.0 100.0 

63.6 82.5 78.2 

30.4 16.3 18.7 

4.2 0.7 1.6 

0.2 0.1 0.1 

0.1 0.1 0.2 

0.3 0.1 0.2 

0.0 0.0 0.3 

0.9 0.2 0.6 

0.2 0.1 0.1 

9,600 1,776 

8,397 1,455 

890 238 

167 30 

11 6 

28 9 

24 13 

18 3 

55 17 

12 7 

100.0 100.0 

87.5 81.9 

9.3 13.4 

1.7 1.7 

0.1 0.3 

0.3 0.5 

0.2 0.7 

0.2 0.1 

0.6 0.9 

0.1 0.4 

‘Includes all resident births, regardless of type of attendant or place of delivew. 

2Numbar of births may not add to totals due to rounding. 

19 

> 
Table 3. Number of live births and percent distribution by nativity of mothar, according to placa of daliva~, type of attendant, and rata of child: ,: 

United Statea, 1978-79 averaga 

Midwife Not in hospital 

All live in 

Race of child and nativity of mother birthsl hospital Midwife Physician Other Not stated 

All racesz 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,413,839 40,389 10,071 11,622 9,600 1,776 

Percent distribution 

All nativities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Native-born3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90.5 84.6 71.0 . 92.4 91.2 82.6 

Foreign-born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.5 15.2 29.0 7.6 6.8 17.4 

Puerto Rican . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.9 2.0 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.1’ 

Cuban . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0<2 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 

Mexican . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.8 4.6 25.9 3.3 4.0 11.0 . Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6 8.3 2.9 3.9 4.6 6.1 

Whita Numbar 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,744,766 25,703 8,306 9,246 8,397 1,455 

Percent distribution 

All nativities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Native-bom3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91.1 83.2 65.5 91.9 91.0 81.4 .“ 

Foreign-born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.9 16.8 34.5 6.1 9.0 18.6 

Puerto Rican . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 3.1 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.1 

Cuban . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 

Mexican . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5 7.2 31.3 4.1 4.6 13.3 

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 6.3 3.1 3.5 4.2 5.1 

Black Numbar 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564.698 12,275 1,640 2,212 890 238 

Percent distribution 

All nativities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 ‘ 

Native-born3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95.0 90.3 98.3 97.1 96.8 96.1 

Foreign-born4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.0 9.7 1.7 2.9 3.2 3.9 

i Includes all resident births, regardless of attendant or place of delive~, 

‘Includes races other than white and black. 

3Born in the United States. 

4Detailed data for Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Mexican mothers are not shown separately because of the small number of such births. 

20 
Table 4. Numbar of live births and percent distrib~tion by geoprqphic region, according to place of deliiery type of attendent, and race of child: 

United States, 1978-79 averaga 

[Seeappendix for composition of geographic regions] 

Midw(fe Not in hospital 

All live [n 

Race of child and geographic region birthsl hospital MjdwJfe Physician Other Not stated 

All racesz 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,413,839 40,389 10,071 11,822 9,600 1,776 

Percent distribution 

All areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Northeast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.8 23,2 9.3 15.1 11.1 3.9 

North Central . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.8 9.2 2.7 26.2 18.4 5.1 

Swat h. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33.8 43.8 72.2 29.0 27.5 16.2 

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.7 23.7 15.8 29.7 43.0 74.8 

White Number 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...1.... 2,744,768 25,703s 8,306 9,246 6,397 1,455 

Percant distribution 

All areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100;0 1.00.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Nprthaast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.3 21..6 10.4 17.1 11.1 4.2 

North Central . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2%4 &.2 2.9 28.8 19.4 5.2 

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.6 38.3 69.0 20.7 24.6 11.2 

West. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.7 27.9 17.7 33.5 44.9 79.5-

Black “ Number 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...”.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564,698 12,275 1.640 2,212 890 238 

Percent distribution 

All areaa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Northeast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.6 30.5 3.4 8.5 13.4 3.8 

North Central . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.8 3.2 1.6 17.9 12.1 3.2 

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52.7 61.1 92.3 67.2 60.9 50.8 

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.0 5.2 2.8 6.4 13.6 42.2 

1Includes all resident births, regardless of attendant or place of de(ivery. 

‘Includes races other than white and black. 

21 
.

,,, .,. ,.’ 

Table 5. Number of live births end percent distribution by size of place of mottiefs residence, eccording.to region, piece of delivey, type.of, 

ettendant, and race of child: United States, 1978-79 average 

Race of child, region, and size of place 

All racesz 

United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,., .,.,. . . . 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Urban places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ., 

1,000, OOOor more population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

500,000-1,000,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

100,000-500,000 population..,.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

50,000-100,000 population...,.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

10,000-50,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Balance of area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Northeast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Urban places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

l,QOO,OOO or mOre population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

500,000-1,000,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

100,000-500,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

50,000-100,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

10,000-50,000 population, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Balance of area........,.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

North Central . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Urban places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

1,000,000 Or more population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

500,000-1,000,000 population .,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

100,000-500,000 population ...,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

50,000-100,000 population . . . . . . . ., . . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

10,000-50,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Balance of area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Total, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Urban places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

1,000,000 or more population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

500,000-1,000,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

100,000-500,000 population .,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

50,000-100,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

10,000-50,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Balance of area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

. 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Urban placea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

1,000,000 or mOre population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

500,000-1,000,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

100,000-500,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

50,000-100,000 population ., . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

10,000-50,000 population ...,... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Balance of area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Midwife 

All live in 

birthsl hospital 

3,413,839 40,389 

100.0 100.0 

53.5 59.9 

8.5 15.3 

5.9 5.3 

12.7 14.3 

8.6 6.5 

17.9 18.5 

46,5 40.1 

640,449 9,390 

100.0 100.0 

57.4 80.9 

19.9 56.2 

2.1 1.0 

9.0 9.2 

8.8 5.2 

17.6 9.5 

42.6 19.1 

913,369 3,717 

100.0 100.0 

52.9 60.4 

8.2 0.7 

6,4 4.1 

10.5 21.3 

7.9 13.3 

19.9 20.9 

47.1 39.6 

1,154,492 17,694 

100.0 100.0 

44.9 47.8 

2.7 0.0 

7.2 3.7 

14.7 16.6 

6.1 4.9 

14.2 22.6 

55.1 52.2 

705,530 9,589 

100.0 100.0 

64.9 61.6 

7.7 9.2 

6.6 12.8 

15.5 12.6 

13.5 8.2 

21.6 18.7 

35.1 38.4 

Not in hospital 

Midwife Physician 

10,071 11,822 

Percent distribution 

100.0 100.0 

49.4 45.0 

5.5 6.1 

4.4 6.5 

9.0 10.1 

13.0 7.4 

17.5 15.0 

50.6 55.0 

Number 

936 1,780 

Percent distribution 

100.0 100.0 

48.4 31.7 

25.0 4.6 

0.3 2.5 

3.4 7.9. 

4.5 5,9 

15.3 10.8 

51.6 68.3 

Number 

269 3,098 

Percent distribution 

100.0 100,0 

24.7 50.2 

2.0 12.2 

3.5 7.6 

5.2 8.6 

1.5 6.4 

12.5 15.3 

75.3 49.8 

Number 

7,275 3,434 

Percant distribution 

100.0 100.0 

51.2 36.1 

4.1 0,9 

3.9 9.5 

8.9 10.1 

15.5 4.0 

18.7 11.6 

48.8 63.9 

Number 

1,591 3,510 

Percent distribution 

100.0 100.0 

46.4 55.7 

1.2 6.3 

9.2 4.6 

13.4 12.5 

8.4 12.3 

14.1 20,1 

53.6 44.3 

Other Not stated 

9,600 1,776 

100.0 100.0 

44.0 57:6 

3.9 9.9 

4.5 3.4 

11.5 14.1 

8.8 9.8 

15.3 20.3 

56.0 42.4 

1,063 70 

100.0 I 00.0 

38.6 34.5 

6.6 10.8 

3.1 

8.2 4.3 

6.7 ,10.1 

13.9 9.4 

61.4 65.5 

1,765 90 

100.0 100.0 

45.0 43.9 

3.1 1.1 

6.6 4.4 

12.1 12.2 

7.4 6.7 

15.8 19.4, 

55.0 56.1 

2,644 288 

100.0 100.0 42.2 34,4 

3.3 0.3 

5.2 2,1 

12.1 14.6 

8.2 4.2 

13.4 13.2 

57.8 65.6 

4,128 1,329 

100.0 100:0. 

46.0 64.8 

3.9 12.6 

3.7 3.8 

11.8 14.7 

10.2 11.3 

16,5 22.5 

54.0 35.2 

Sss footnotes at end of table, 

22 
.

Table 5. Number of live births and percent c@tribution by size of place of mother’s residence, according to tegion, place of delivery, type of 

attendant, and race of child: United States, 197S-79 averag&Com 

Midwife Not in hospitel 

All live in 

Race of child, region, and size of place birtirsl hospital Midwife Physician Other Not stated 

White 

United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,744,768 25,703 8,306 9,246 8,397 1,465 .,! 

Percent distribution 

Total ... .,... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .< 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Urban places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ~... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49.0 58.2 53.9 42.3 42.1 56.1. 

l, 000,000 ormore population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.0 12.3 5.9 4.9 2.9 8.9 

500rOOO-l,000,000 population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4 5.0 4.8 4.2 4.1 3.1 

100,000-500,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.9 13.6 9.8 8.9 10.7 12.0 

50,000-100,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.8 7.9 15.4 8.3 9.0 10.2 

10,000-50,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.9 19.3 18.1 16.1 15.4 21.9 

Balance of area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51.0 41.8 46.1 57.7 57.9 43.9 

Number 

Northeast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530,058 5,544 867 1,577 932 61 .. 

Percent distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Urban places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.6 68.7 45.3 25.2 31.9 24.8 . 

1,000, OOOor more population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.0 42.3 22.3 2.4 4.3 5.0 

500,000-1,000,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5 0.7 0.2 1.8 2.1 

100,000-500,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.0 6.0 2.8 4.9 5.6 4.1 

50,000-100,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.2 6.5 4.4 5.6 6.1 6.6 

10,000-50,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,.. . 18.9 13.2 15.6 10.4 13.9 9.1 

Balance of area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49.4 31.3 54.7 74.8 68.1 75.2 

. . 

Number 

North Central . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 780,595 3,132 242 2,661 1,628 76 

,. 

Percent distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Urban places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46.8 59.4 18.2 43.6 42.1 40.1 

1,000,000 ormora population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 0.5 0.8 7.9 1.6 1.3 

500,000-1,000,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6 3.1 2.9 5.7 5.7 2.6 

100,000-500,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3 21.4 4.6 6.6 11.5 8.6 

50,000-100,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.8 12.0 1.2 6.8 7.4 5.9 

10,000-50,000 population ..,.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.2 22.4 8.7 16.5 15.8 21.7 

Balance of area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53.2 40.6 81.8 56.4 57.9 59.9 

Number 

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 838,596 9,846 5,729 1,915 2,064 163 

,. . . Percent distribution 

Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Urban places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40.1 44.2 58.7 33.2 40.9 31.4’ 

1,000,000 ormore population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5 0.1 4.9 1.0 2.4 0.3 

500,000-1,000,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.0 1.8 4.6 4.4 4.9 1.5 

100,000-500,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.5 15.3 10.1 9.6 11.7 8.9 

50,000-100,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1 6.0 19.4 5.7 9.1 4.9 

10,000-50,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.0 21.0 19.8 12.5 12.8 15.7 

Balance of area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59.9 55.8 41.3 66.8 59.1 6B.6 

Number 

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595,520 7,182 1,469 3,093 3,773 1,156 

Percent distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Urban places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.1 68.7 . 46.2 55.7 45.3 62.2 ~ 

1,000,000 or more population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.6 11.0 1.0 5.9 3.4 10.8 

500,000-1,000,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8 13.4 8.6 4.0 3.5 3.5 

100,000-500,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.4 13.8 13.7 12.5 11.1 13.1 

50,000-100,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.7 9.9 8.5 12.5 10.4 11.5 

10,000-50,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.6 20.5 14.4 20.B 17.0 23.4 

Balance of area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36.9 31.3 53.8 44.3 54.7 37.8 

See fcmtnotesat end of table 

23 
Table 5. Number of live births snd percent distribution by size of placa of motha(a raaidenca, according to region, placa of delivery, type of 

attandant, and race of child: Unitad States, 197S-79 everege—Con. 

Midwife Not in hospital 

All live in 

Race of child, region, and size of place birthsl hospital Midwife Physician Other Not stated 

Black Number 

United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564,69S 12,275 1,640 2,212 890 238 

Percent distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Urbsn places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74.1 69.3 27.1 56.5 61.3 63.9 

1,000,000 Ormorepopulstion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.6 23.8 3.5 11.1 13.3 16.4 

500,000-1,000,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 13.1 6.1 2.0 15.9 8.7 4.8 

100,000-500,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.4 17.5 6.0 14.9 17.5 24.8 

50,000-100,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.6 4.4 1.5 4.0 7.6 6.9 

10,000-50,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.2 17.5 15.0 10.6 14.2 10.9 

Balance of area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.9 30.7 72.9 43.5 38.7 36.1 

Number 

Northeast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99,173 3,745 55 188 119 9 

Percent distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Urban places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92.0 98.9 95.5 85.3 87.4 ‘100.0 

lJ300,0000 rmOrepOpulatiOn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49.7 76.4 65.5 22.7 24,4 “50.0 

500,000-1,000,000 population ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.7 1.0 0.9 8.5 10.1 *. 

100,000-500,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.0 14.0 10.9 32.0 29.0 *5.6 

50,000-100,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.0 3.3 6.4 8.0 11,8 *33.3 

10,000-50,000 population....,.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.6 4.1 !1,8 14.1 12.2 “11.1 *- Balance of area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.0 1.1 4.5 14.7 12.6 

Numbar 

North Central . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117,315 392 27 397 10B 8 

Parcent distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Urban places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92.5 86.6 81.1 92.3 87.0 *80.O 

lrOOO,OOO ormore population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.5 2.6 13.2 40.2 24.2 

500,000-1,000,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.0 13.8 9.4 20.8 20.0 *26.7 

100,000-500,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.3 25.5 7.5 21.3 18.6 ‘20.0 

50,000 -100,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.5 30.1 3.8 3.8 8.4 ‘20.0 

10,000 –50,000p0pulati0 n....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.3 14.6 47.2 6.2 15.8 “13.3 

Balance of area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5 13.4 18.9 7.7 13.0 “20.0 

Number 

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297,659 7,500 1,513 1,487 542 121 

Percent distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Urban places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58.3 52.7 22.6 39.8 46.1 38.4 

1,000, OOOOr mOrepOpulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 0.0 1.1 0.8 6.6 0.4 

500,000-1,000,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.4 6.3 1.3 16,0 6.4 2.9 

100,000-500,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.6 18.5 4.3 10,7 13.0 22.3 

50,000-100,000 population, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1 3.4 1.0 1.8 4.9 3.3 

10,000-50,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.9 24.5 14.9 10.5 15.2 9.5 

Balance of area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.7 47.3 77.4 60.2 53.9 61.6 

Number 

!Nest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,552 640 46 141 121 101 

Percent distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Urban places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89.9 80.1 63.7 93.3 80.6 90.0 

1,000, OOOor more population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.8 8.1 4.4 22.0 22.3 33.8 

500,000-1,000,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.3 28.8 23.1 10.6 7.4 6.0 

100,000-500,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.2 21.0 20.9 18.8 25.6 29.9 

50,000-100,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.0 6.8 9.9 23.0 14.9 8.0 

10,000–50,000 population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.6 15.5 5.5 18.8 10.3 12,4 

Balsnce of area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.1 19.9 36.3 6.7 19.4 10.0 

I Includes all resident births,regardlessof attendant or place of delivery. 

21ncludesrsces other than white and black. 

24 
Table 6. Numbar of live births by place of delivery, type of attendant, and race of child: United Stetes and each Stete, 1978 and 1979 

1979 1978 

In hospitalz Not in hospita13 In hospitalz Not in hospita13 

Other Other Other Other 

and snd snd and 

All Iiva unspeci- unspeci- All live unspeci- unspeciState and race of childl births Physician Midwife fied Physician Midwife fied births Physician Midwife fied Physician Midwife fied 

United States . . . . . . . . . . 3,494,398 3,393,773 44,496 22,215 11,837 10,363 11,714 3,333,279 3,221,677 36,2S2 42,700 11,806 9,778 11,036 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,80 B,420 2,733,403 29,086 17,537 9,356 8,B79 10,159 2,6B1,116 2,596,455 22,319 33,929 9,136 7,733 9,544 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577,B55 557,183 13,001 3,061 2,099 1,356 1,155 551,540 527,B61 11,549 6,7BI 2,325 1,924 1,100 

Alabama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,603 61,368 393 54 252 408 27 60,227 58,878 327 58 268 575 101 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,693 39,534 155 12 40 87 65 3B,753 38,408 131 21 34 107 52 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,418 21.549 236 42 211 320 60 21,223 20,223 195 36 254 467 46 

Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,096 B,l 70 516 139 27 76 68 B,861 7,685 609 13B 33 67 119 

Whit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,366 5,784 308 72 17 57 28 6,2B0 5,694 370 70 23 52 71 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415 361 40 12 2 392 346 38 8 

Arizona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,709 42,659 2,714 892 54 196 94 43,112 39,617 2,132 702 114 241 306 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,363 36,718 1,726 520 40 188 71 36,021 33,B39 1,170 402 9B 235 277 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,000 1,712 236 48 4 1,868 1,6B6 128 50 4 

Arkansas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36,300 34,722 232 1,115 50 18 163 34.793 33,292 183 970 106 81 161 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,691 ‘25,791 114 594 31 12 149 25,682 24,B26 6B 532 82 29 125 

Black . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 9,272 8,616 116 505 19 6 10 8,B43 8,212 93 430 24 32 

California . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379,422 357,723 3,72B 13,229 1,913 238 2,591 356,310 331,396 2,485 17,720 1,794 1:: 2,731 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311,808 293,360 3,145 11,073 1,735 201 2,294 293,495 272,644 2,079 14,570 1,619 163 2,420 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,535 39.635 34B 1,226 116 19 191 37,894 35,493 244 1,875 104 10 16B 

Colorado . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,213 46,403 292 93 141 9 275 44,107 43,392 152 64 228 16 255 

Whit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,578 42,844 264 78 124 9 259 40,960 40,294 135 59 210 15 247 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,260 2,234 5 7 4 10 2,044 2,018 7 4 12 2 

Connecticut . . . . . . . . . . . 38,724 38,297 261 64 41 3 56 37,294 36,8BI 147 162 3B 14 52 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,374 32,994 242 54 2B 2 54 32,157 31,787 139 136 32 12 51 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,902 4,862 18 6 13 1 2 4,641 4,606 4 24 6 1 

Delaware, . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,928 8,797 14 64 4 36 13 B,6B5 B,593 26 28 2 18 lB 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5739 6,635 11 44 2 36 11 6,486 6,408 24 22 18 16 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,129 2,102 3 20 2 2 2,136 2,126 2 6 2 2 

District of Columbia. ., ., 9,512 9,111 300 46 29 20 6 9,383 8.839 397 94 32 15 6 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,447 1,386 39 B 14 1,415 1,346 36 20 2 9 2 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,943 7’,60B 257 3B 28 6 6 7,84B 7,3B3 355 72 30 4 4 

Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121,146 114,624 4,272 729 406 550 565 113,343 108,74B 2,566 780 251 538 460 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B8,023 84,154 2,355 481 251 332 450 81,640 78,541 1,680 608 160 266 385 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,B27 29,245 1,875 231 152 217 107 30,374 2B,871 817 161 87 268 70 

Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86,018 B4,665 2,610 333 61 151 178 B4,140 81,018 2,469 135 116 236 166 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,395 53,942 1,101 197 39 19 97 52,717 51,466 978 83 55 29 106 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,B24 29,843 1,499 132 41 132 77 30,45B 28,607 1,477 52 61 203 58 

Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,546 17,243 12 20 95 6 170 16,753 16,6!7 34 20 2 60 

White .,, ,, ...,. .,, , 4,364 4,214 6 7 23 4 110 4,269 4,175 26 8 2 58 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527 514 4 9 410 410 

Idaho . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,023 19,543 8 6 106 34 326 19,391 18,991 9 7 84 8 292 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,435 16,963 8 5 105 34 320 18,853 18,465 9 5 82 7 285 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 79 1 El 81 

Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184,210 i 82,275 353 319 983 12 268 1748509 “172,664 289 327 946 12 269 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140,359 13B,600 304 255 775 9 216 133,544 132,026 268 262 749 7 232 

,Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,331 39,997 37. 58 190 3 46 37,521 37,230 14 60 181 5 31 

See footnotes at end of tabla 
.

N 

m ‘Table 6.” Number of live births by. place of delivery, type of attendant, and race of child: United States and each State, 197S and 1979—Con. 

1979 1978 

In hospitalz Not in hospitals In hospitelz Not in hospita13 

Other Other Other Other 

and and and and 

All live unspeci- unspeci- All live unspeci- unspeciStete and race of child3 

India na . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

White . . . . . . . . . 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Kansas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

White . . . . . . . . . . . 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Louisiana . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

White .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Maine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Maryland . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Massachusetts. . . . . . 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Black . . . . . . . . ...’.... 

Minnesota: . . . . . . . . . . . 

- “White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Mississippi . . . . . . . . . . . . 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Missouri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Montana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Nebraska . . . . . . . . . . . . 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Nevada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

births Physician Midwife fied Physician Midwife fled births Physician Midwife fied Physician Midwife fied 

87,383 86,564 191 17 257 33 321 83,598 82,741 159 66 296 40 296 

77,234 76,487 184 17 205 33 308 74,088 73,29B 154 58 252 38 288 

9,567 9,501 6 50 10 8,930 8,867 4 8 42 2 7 

48,788 46,546 13 25 89 15 100 44,584 44,368 6 23 S3 8 96 

45,151 44,915 10 25 87 15 99 43,105 42,800 6 23 78 8 90 

1,121 1,117 2 1 1 1,023 1,015 3 5 

39,006 38,758 1 34 92 4 117 36,735 38,421 1 152 79 2 80 

34,944 34,725 27 83 4 105 33,022 32,758 1 120 67 2 74 

3,225 3,207 1 4 7 6 2,958 2,922 20 10 6 

5B,807 56,307 2,214 24 164 68 130 57,334 54,919 2,067 23 114 100 111 

52,967 50,810 1,826 15 143 62 111 51,576 49,514 1,773 16 91 84 98 

5,522 5,166 304 9 20 5 18 5,336 5,072 206 6 23 16 13 

79,263 78,504 442 34 70 70 143 74,928 74,071 469 35 147 55 151 

47,820 47,315 303 8 40 66 87 45,192 44,655 327 10 80 44 76 

30,590 30,345 133 23 30 4 55 28,955 28,652 130 25 64 11 73 

16,365 15,983 101 14 143 72 52 15,847 15,517 30 28 178 48 46 

16,056 15,678 98 14 142 72 52 15,569 15,245 30 26 178 45 45 

85 84 1 . 91 88 2 1 

58,226 56,717 962 111 159 197 80 55,329 53,817 1,002 80 198 156 76 

38,146 38,245 493 67 ; 86 188 67 38,071 37,165 500 57 135 149 65 

17,600 17,018 460 37 ! 66 7 12 15,998 15,413 493 19 59 5 9 

70,656 69,974 249 25 / 164 8 238 68,657 68,255 58 35 166 5 118 

64,339 63,794 152 18 149 8 218 62,844 62,487 44 32 169 3 109 

5,231 5,122 75 6 12 16 4,823 4,785 11 3 16 1 7 

144,600 143,877 50 588 28 7 50 139,149 138,433 40 513 100 12 51 

118,505 

2>,004 

117,901 

23,905 

42 

5 

487 23 

87 4 

7 

-( 

45 

3 

114,232 

23,039 

113,611 

22,949 

39 

1 

446 

62 

88 

12 

10 

2 

38 

13 

65,280 63,378 1,591 17 : 66 15’ 213 61,993 \ 80,511 1,153 18 75 6 230 

62,029 60,240 1,508 11 I 55 15 200 58,980 57,591 1,084 16 70 6 213 

1,454 1,397 51 .’ 4 2 1,384 1,330 2 9 

45,923 43,454 2,006 43 , 189 187 64 44,399 41,020 2,2: 574 290 161 100 

23,489 23,121 278 11 “ 16 41 22 22,653 22,063 297 236 18 15 24 

22,066 19,972 1,723 30 173 126 42 21,407 1 B,626 1,951 336 272 146 76 

76,468 75,823 28 20 359 57 181 72,892 72,253 29 39 359 66 146 

64,030 63,453 28 17 317 41 174 60,981 60,414 25 32 320 49 141 

11,694 11,633 3 38 15 5 11,181 11,115 4 4 37 17 4 

14,065 13,696 103 73 72 21 100 13,545 13,247 37 77 49 27 108 

12,605 12,249 100 67 71 19 99 12,104 11,824 37 64 48 27 104 

70 69 1 55 53 1 1 

26,220 26,016 116 11 33 44 25,112 25,019 8 10 26 49 

24,421 24,247 91 11 29 43 23,438 23,356 3 10 24 45 

1,206 1,188 14 3 1 1,140 1,136 2 2 

12,365 11,756 178 292 9 3 127 10,990 10,528 264 68 16 114 

10,493 9,986 137 246 8 2 114 9,243 8,863 206 56 11 107 

1,229 1.155 33 32 1 8 1,193 1,134 42 10 3 4 
New Hampshire. 

...... . 

White ............. . 

Black .............. . 

New Jersey .......... . 

White 

............. . 

Black .............. . 

New Mexico .......... . 

White 

............. . 

Black . . ...... . ..... . 

New York ............ . 

White ............. . 

Black .............. . 

North Carolina ......,. . 

White 

........ ,. .,,. 

Black .............. . 

North Dakota ......... . 

White ............. . 

Black. ............. . 

Ohio ................ . 

White ............. . 

Black .............. . 

Oklahoma ............ . 

White 

............. . 

Black .............. . 

Oregon .............. . 

White ............. . 

Black. ............. . 

Pennsylvania ......... . 

White ............. . 

Black .............. . 

Rhode island ......... . 

White ............. . 

Black. ............. . 

South Carolina ........ . 

White ............. . 

Black, ............. . 

South Dakota......,,,. 

White 

............. . 

Black .............. . 

Tennessee ........... . 

White ............. . 

Black .............. . 

Texas ............... . 

White ............. . 

Black. ............. . 

Utah ................ . 

White ............. . 

Black ............... . 

Vermont ............. . 

White ............. . 

Black .............. . 

Virginia ....... . 

..... . White . . . . . . . . . . . . . Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Washington . . . . . . . . . . White . . . . . . . . . . . . . Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

ro.


u Saa footnotes at ant of table.


12,845 12,353 309 15 16 101 51 12,429 72,107 189 5 25 55 48 

12,647 12,163 305 14 16 100 49 12,239 11,919 1 B8 5 24 55 48 

91 86 3 1 1 85 83 1 1 

96,501 94,459 1,396 55 212 218 161 93,535’ 91,284 1,071 722 160 163 135 

74,951 73,807 647 33 148 208 106 72,617 71,271 470 532 110 145 89 

19,642 18,754 745 20 61 9 53 19,236 18,373 595 166 46 10 46 

25,558 23,444 1,0B5 520 357 72 80 23,932 22,175 1,004 165 340 132 116 

21,362 19,90B 646 429 255 59 65 19,569 18,591 463 117 214 96 88 

711 670 22 7 8 3 1 860 743 67 6 14 20 10 

235,944 228,652 5,459 619 419 370 425 233,954 227,498 4,934 489 425 296 312 

180,794 176,419 2,606 530 347 319 373 179,877 176,143 2,444 400 365 260 265 

48,622 45,829 2,563 76 64 45 45 48,876 46,218 2,446 B4 58 31 39 

83,849 82,779 467 22 381 57 143 82,442 81,721 25 8 4B5 88 115 

56,545 56,002 234 9 169 12 119 55,552 55,224 12 3 211 6 94 

25,139 24,680 170 13 211 44 21 24,785 24,401 13 5 270 76 20 

11,792 11,067 283 412 2 28 11,299 10,479 212 566 18 24 

10,877 10,238 249 362 2 26 10,424 9,680 190 514 18 22 

108 48 26 32 2 84 48 16 20 

167,010 164,742 912 28 853 82 393 160,863 158,684 936 46 819 49 329 

142,158 140,317 625 21 761 78 356 137,024 135,240 68B 32 728 48 288 

23,355 22,945 278 7 89 4 32 22,420 22,03B 244 12 86 1 39 

49,052 48,630 68 31 78 152 93 45,905 45,596 9 19 51 135 95 

39,179 3B,818 59 25 62 138 77 36,757 36,497 7 19 33 126 75 

5,037 5,014 1 3 9 9 1 4,643 4,624 1 6 4 6 

41 ,6B8 3B,900 1,054 115 298 552 769 3B,974 36,535 1,086 190 272 306 585 

39,116 36,455 1,008 107 289 525 732 36,652 34,304 1,045 183 260 296 564 

976 941 11 1 9 14 946 917 12 1 3 5 8 

157,865 153,712 2,224 3B3 1,010 315 221 152,248 133,854 2,117 15,563 467 82 165 

135,801 132,346 1,715 284 953 309 194 130,892 116,223 1,576 12,443 425 78 147 

20,463 19,794 491 94 53 26 20,006 16,423 535 2,988 38 4 18 

11,880 11,734 73 2 24 1: 32 11,522 11,466 4 3 20 13 16 

10,878 10,743 71 1 19 13 31 10,560 10,509 4 3 17 11 16 

770 761 1 5 2 1 738 735 2 1 

50,645 46,866 1,184 182 157 65 191 49,671 47,632 1,231 320 129 162 197 

29,887 29,147 510 81 66 7 76 29,125 28,443 .359 181 43 11 88 

20,359 19,343 654 9B 91 58 115 20,135 18,607 856 129 86 150 107 

13,036 12,668 256 55 15 14 28 12,239 11,807 326 62 8 2 34 

11,254 11,014 146 45 11 14 24 10,631 10,381 158 52 8 2 30 

66 56 10 60 52 8 

88,452 66,588 1,072 29 371 267 125 66,607 64,717 1,043 19 414 289 125 

52,416 51,010 827 24 209 230 116 51,291 49,955 773 13 197 240 113 

15,587 15,159 221 5 161 33 8 14,892 14,381 233 5 216 47 10 

254,50B 245,287 2,469 819 479 4,695 759 236,952 228,993 1,297 749 465 4,567 861 

214,236 205,7B3 2,247 682 407 4,473 644 199,207 192,046 1.080 675 3B4 4,290 732 

37,062 36,386 166 123 68 209 110 35,019 34,308 153 66 77 288 127 

41,098 40,114 478 35 66 159 246 38,808 37,925 370 136 65 47 265 

39,644 38,754 408 29 59 155 239 37,489 36,702 298 123 62 46 258 

230 211 17 1 f 217 202 11 2 1 1 

7,512 7,225 101 45 lB 54 69 7,120 6,933 57 8 14 40 68 

7,459 7,174 100 45 18 54 68 7,061 6,874 57 8 14 40 68 

18 17 1 25 25 

76,959 75,836 495 95 223 213 97 73,443 72,449 422 60 228 201 B3 

56,218 55,377 372 71 149 166 83 54,485 53.748 332 52 144 132 77 

19,070 18,829 99 17 68 45 12 17,473 17,235 76 5 83 68 6 

64,325 62,769 359 81 271 411 434 58,726 57,150 177 82 576 375 366 

57,707 56,236 333 76 263 387 412 52,810 51,332 161 74 543 358 342 

2,552 2,527 6 2 13 4 2,364 2,337 5 .1 9 7 5 

., ., 
r+ 

m Table 6. .Number oflivebifihs byplace ofdelivew, wpeofatiendant, andrace of child: United Stateaand each State, 1978 and1979—Con. 

7979 1978 

In hospita12 Not in hospita13 In hospitalz Not in hospita13 

Other Other Other Other 

and and and and 

All live unsp eci- unsp eci- All live unspeci- unspeciState and race of child~ births Physician Midwife fied Physician Midwifa fiad births Physician Midwife fiad Physician Midwifa fied 

West Virginia . . . . . . . . . . 29,831 29,226 291 36 191 8 79 29,280 28,780 110 31 268 10 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

81 

28,554 27,981 268 34 188 8 75 27,942 27,460 102 31 263 10 76 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,139 1,107 23 2 3 4 1,206 1,188 8 5 

Wisconsin . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,302 72,328 315 127 313 49 170 68,669 67,946 165 17 295 53 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67,363 66,436 301 121 294 47 164 63,396 62,707 159 15 278 50 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,623 4,587 13 3 16 1 3 4,135 4,106 6 1 16 3 

Wyoming . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,781 9,440 196 78 7 60 8,661 8,005 129 480 12

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,310 8,990 181 72 7 60 8,144 7,&43 120 436 12 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 103 3 2 87 67 4. 16 

lTotal for each area includes racas other than white and black. 

‘Includes birihs occurring enroute tooron arrival at hospital. 

31ncludes births with place ofdelivery not stated. 

5 

193 

187 

3 

35 

33 
Table 7. Number of live births and percent distribution by age of mother, according to place of delive~, type of attendant, and race of child: 

United States, 1978-79 averege 

In hospital Not in hospital 

All live 

Race of child and age of mother birthsl Physician Midwife Midwife Physician Other Not steted 

All racesz Number 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,413,839 3,307,008 40,389 10,071 11,822 9,600 1,776 

Percent distribution 

Alleges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Under 15 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3 0.3 0.6 0.2 0.5 0.4 0.3 

15-19 yaars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.0 16.0 23.1 13.3 13.3 8.8 9.7 

20-24 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34.1 34.1 37.3 33.7 32.5 31.5 31.6 

25-29 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.5 30.6 25.0 29.7 31.4 35.7 33.8 

30-34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.5 14.6 10.9 16.0 16.3 16.8 17.6 

35-39 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.8 3.8 2.7 5.5 4.9 5.5 5.4 

40-49 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.7 0.7 0.5 1.6 1.3 1.2 1.6 

White Number 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,744,768 2,665,499 25,703 8,306 9,246 8,397 1,455 

Percent distribution 

All ages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Under t5 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 

15-19 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.9 13.9 19.4 11.0 9.5 7.0 8.2 

20-24 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34.0 34.0 37.6 33.1 31.9 31.3 30.8 

25-29 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.1 32.2 27.4 31.7 34.1 37.3 36.0 

30-34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.2 15.3 12.2 16.9 17.9 17.5 17.9 

35-39 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.8 3.8 2.7 5.5 5.1 5.5 5.4 

40-49 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.7 0.7 0.5 1.7 1.2 1.2 1.6 

Black Number 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564,698 542.267 12,275 1,640 2,212 890 23B 

Percent distribution 

Alleges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Under 15 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 1.1 1.3 0.5 1.4 2.9 1.5 

15-19 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.9 26.8 31.8 25.1 28.5 24.9 18.5 

20-24 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.7 35.6 37.4 36.8 34.7 32.7 36.4 

25-29 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.3 22.4 19.1 19.8 20.4 22.3 20.0 

30-34 yeara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.0 10.0 7.6 10.9 9.3 10.5 14.7 

35-39 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 3.3 2.3 5.5 4.1 5.5 5.5 

40-49 yeara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.8 0.8 0.5 1.3 1.5 1.2 1.5 

llncludes all resident births, rsgsrdless of attendant or plsce of delivery. 

‘Includes races other than white and black. 

,... 

29 
Table 8. Numbar of Iiva births and percent distribution by Iive-bitih order, according to place of delivery, type of attendant, and race of child: 

United Statea, 1978-79 average 

Midwife Not in hospital 

All live in 

Race of child and Iive-binh order biiihsl hospital Midwife Physician Other Not stated 

All racesz 

Totals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,413,839 40,389 10,071 11,822 9,600 1,776 

Percent distribution 

All Iiva-birth orders ., . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,., 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

First child. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.5 41.9 26.4 31.6 27.3 28.5 

Second child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.2 31.2 27.7 30.7 30.2 29.4 

Third child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.1 14.9 18.0 17.6 16.7 19.1 

Fourth child or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.2 12.0 27.9 20.2 23.8 23.0 

Whita Number 

Tota13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,744,768 25,703 8,306 9,246 8,397 1,455 

Percent distribution 

Alllive-birth orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

First child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43.1 43.3 27.2 31.5 27.5 28.2 , 

Second child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.8 32.5 2B.3 31.7 30.6 30.7 

Third child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.9 14.4 17.9 17.5 18.7 ‘. 19.1 

Fourth child or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.2 9.8 26.6 19.3 23.3 22.0 

Black Number 

Totals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564,698 12.275 1,640 2,212 .890 238 

Percent distribution 

Alllive-birth orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

First child. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39.6 40.5 21.7 31.7 26.2 26.0 

Second child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29.3 28.9 24.7 26.5 27.2 24.2, 

Third child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.2 15.5 16.3 17.8 18.5 19.2 

Fourth child otmora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.7 15.1 35.3 24.1 28.0 26.6 

1Includes all resident births, regardless of attendant m place of delivery.


‘Includes races other than white and black.


31ncludesbirthswith birth Ordernot stated, which are excluded from the computation of the percent distributions.


30 
Tabla 9. Number of live births, percent distribution by educational attainment of mother, and medien yeara of school completed, according to 

place of delivery, type of attandant, and race of child: Total of repotting areas, 1978-79 average . 

Midwife - Not in hospital 

All live in 

Race of child and years of school completed by mother births~ hospital Midwife Physician Other Not stated 

Al I racesz Number 

Totals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,892,127 35,330 4,816 9,621 7,643 1.129 

Percent distribution 

Allyears ofschool completed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

O-8 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1 8.5 13.6 11.9 7.3 14.5 

9-n yeara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.2 28.7 21.5 22.0 15.2 19.3 12 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43.9 38.6 30.7 34.7 36.0 32.1 

13-15 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.5 14.3 18.3 18.0 25.9 22.2 

16years ormore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.4 10.0 15.9 13.4 15.6 11.9 

Median 

Years ofschool completed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.6 12.3 12.5 12.5 12.8 12.5 

White Number 

Totals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,306,419 21,665 3,374 7,346 6,679 884 

Percent distribution 

Allyears ofschool completed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

0-8~ears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9 8.7 12.5 12.4 6.5 14.1 

9-n years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.5 24.0 12.9 17.5 13.1 14.9 

12years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44.7 37.9 30.2 33.7 36.4 33.0 

13-15 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.1 15.7 23.4 20.2 27.3 24.1 

16years ormore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.8 13.7 21.0 16.1 16.7 14.0 

Median 

Yearaof achool completed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.6 12.5 12.8 12.6 12.8 12.6 

Black Number 

Tota13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504,646 11,892 1,361 2,065 716 188 

Percent distribution 

Allyeara ofschool completed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

0-8 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 7.4 16.2 10.1 12.6 16.4 

9-n years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.9 37.2 42.6 38.1 34.0 37.8 

12 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.8 40.1 32.3 37.9 32.5 29.4 

13-15 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.3 11.8 5.7 10.4 13.8 13.5 

16years or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8 3.6 3.1 3.5 7.7 2.9 

Median 

Years ofschool completed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.3 12.1 11.4 12.0 12.1 

Ilncludes all birthsto residents of tha areas reporting educational attainment @nether, regardless of attendant or place of delivery. See appendix, table 1, for a listing


of these areas.


21ncludes races other than white and black.


31ncludes births with years of schooling not stated, which are excluded from the computation of percent distributions and medians.


31 
Table 10. Percent of live births to unmarried women by age of rsiothar, place of dalivery, typa of attendant, and rata of child Totsl of rePo~in9 

araas, 1978-79 avarage 

Midwife Not in hospital 

All live in 

Race of child and age of mother births 1 hospital Midwife Physician Other Not stated 

All racesz 

Alleges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.8 27.2 15.6 21.5 15.1 25.5, 

Under 15 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88.0 92.2 *88.2 96.0 98.0 “100.0 

15-19 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ) . . . . . . . . . . . . 45.1 54.1 44.6 56.3 49.0 57.4 

20–24 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.9 24.1 15.0 23.1 15.9 27,8 

25-29 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.0 12.1 10.0 10.5 9.7 11.4 

30-34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.7 10.9 8.8 8.9 9.2 15.0 

35-39 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.6 15.1 11,7 12.4 9.2 “27.1 

40-49 yeara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.1 11.7 “9.0 13.5 *9.1 *13.3 

White 

Alleges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.8 13.4 8.1 10,9 10.8 12.4 

Under 15 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72.2 75.9 “75.0 87.0 95.5 

15-19 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.6 30.7 18.4 36.3 33.9 30.5 

20-24 yeara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 8.7 11.9 8.4 11.8 11.3 14.2 

25-29 yeara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ‘ 3.4 6.3 7.0 6.0 7.9 5.3 

30-34 yeara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9 5.6 6.3 5.1 8.2 11.3 

35-39 years . . . . . . . . . . . . ...&... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 10.7 5.9 6,9 7.1 19.0 

40–49 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9 8.3 1.6 6.6 7.0 

Black 

Alleges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54.7 57.7 35.3 55.4 55.4 58.1 

Under 15 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98.1 96.7 91.7 100.0 100.0 *100.0 

15-19 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84,1 83.4 64.9 78.1 83.1 66.4 

20-24 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53.7 50.6 29.9 54.6 59.1 59.8 

25–29 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.9 31.7 23.3 35.9 37.1 38.5 

30–34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2&7 29.5 19.0 33.3 24.1 24.1 

35-39 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.5 27.5 24.1 34.0 25.9 “40.0 

40-49 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.9 18.4 22.2 32.1 *29.4 “40.0 

I Includes all births to residents of the areas rsporting marital status, regardless of attendant or place of delivery. See apbendix, table 1, for a Ii$ting of these areas. 

‘Includes races other than white and black. 

32€
Table 11. Number of five births, percent distribution by trimester of pregnancy prenetal care bagan, and median number of prenatal visits, 

according to place of delive~, type of attendant, and race of child: Total of rapo~ing araas, 1978-79 average 

Midwife Net in hospital 

Race of child, trimester of pregnancy prenatal care begen, All live in 

and number of prenatal visits birthsl hospital Midwife Physician Other Not stated 

All racesz Number 

Totals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,389.094 39,345 9,969 11.473 9,526 1,752 

Percent distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

First trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75.4 57.1 50.6 55.4 52.5 55.8 

Second trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.3 31.8 28.6 29.0 21.9 21.6 

Third trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9 8.3 10.6 9.1 6.3 6.4 

No prenatal care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 2.8 10.3 6.5 19.3 16.2 

Median 

Number ofprenatal viaits4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.0 10.4 9.0 8.9 S.1 8.3 

White Number 

Totals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,724,303 25,148 8,229 9,012 8,337 1,438 

Percent distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

First trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78.6 61.8 51.9 60.0 54.2 58.6 

Second trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.0 28.7 26.5 26.3 21.2 20.2 

Third trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 7.6 10.6 8.2 5.9 6.0 

No prenatal care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 1.9 11.0 5.4 18.8 15.2 

Median 

Number ofprenatal visits4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.3 11.0 10.1 9.3 9.3 8.7 

Black Number 

Tota13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563,912 12,231 1,628 2,201 885 237 

Percent distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

First trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60.9 47.8 42.9 36.6 38.4 40.4 

Seccnd trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.0 38.3 40.1 39.9 28.0 28.2 

Third trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4 9.4 10.3 12.6 8.8 10.3 

Nc prenatal care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.8 4.5 6.7 10.9 24.8 21.1 

Median 

Number ofprenatal visits4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.7 9.4 6.3 6.8 6.S 6.3 

I For trimester of pregnancy prenatal care began, includes all births to residents of the areas repmting month of pregnancy prenatal care began, regardless of attendant


or place of delivery; for median number of visits, includes all births to residents of the areas reporting number of prenatal visits. See appendix, table L for a listing of


these areas.


‘Includes races other than white and black.


31ncludes births with month prenatal care began not stated, which have been excluded from the computation of the percent distributions.


4Excludes births to mothers with no prenatal care.


33 
---

Table 12. Number of live births for mothers et demographic risk end perca~ distribu~,on,bytrime$ter & pregnancy prenatal cara began, 

according to place of delivery, typa of attandant, and rata of child UtliteifStatas, 1998-79 average 

Midwife Not in hospital 

,,- Race of child and trimester of pregnancy All {ive in 

prenatal care began births 1 hospitel MidWife Physician Other Not stated 

,, 

AlI racesz 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

First trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Second trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Third trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

No care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

White 

Totals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

First trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

%xmdtrimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Third trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

No care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Black 

Tota13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

First trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Second trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Third trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

No care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

514,100 

100,0 

63.1 

26.7 

7.2 

3.0 

361,740 

100:0’ 

67.7 

23.5 

6.3 

2.5 

134,478 

100.0 

51.1 

35.3 

9.2 

4.4 

Number 

7,629 2,892 2,489 2,160 400 

. . . . Percent distribution,, 

100.0 100.() 100.0 100.0 100.0 

46.0 39.2 41.3 39.3 42.6 

36.8’ 31.8 34.3 23.8 24.3 

12.3 14.1 14.7 8.9 7.8 

49 1*.9 9.7 28.0 25.2 

Number 

4,026 2,199 1,738 1,758 300 

Percent distribution 

100.0 10(3.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

5061 39.8 43.0 41.0 45;6 

34.3 28.6 33.6 22.0 23.6 

12.1 14.9 15.4 8.7 7.3 

3.5 16.7 8.0 26.3 23.3 

,, 

Number 

3,187 676 697 336 82 

Percent tlistributiori 

100.0 1000 100.0 100.0 100.0 

40.4 3~.3 36.4 30.7 30.2 

40!7 42.4 36.5 32.8 28.9 

12.1 11,6 13.4 10.2 11.4 

6.8 8.8 13.7 26.4 29.s 

lBassd on a 20-psrcsnt sampls of all births in the areaa reporting month of prsgnancy prenatal csre began, regardless of attendant or placa of delivery. See appendix, 

table 1, for a listing of these areas. 

21ncludes races other than white and black. 

31ncludes births with month prenatal care began not stated, which have been excluded from the computation of the percent distributions. 

NOTE Mothars at demographic risk are those who are: very young, in tha oldest years of childbearing, or who had a high or low birth-order child relative to their age. 

See appendix for further details. 

,, 

../., 

, 

34 
Tabla 13. Number of live births and percent distribution by birth weight, according to place of delivety, type of attendant, and race of child: 

United States, 1978-79 avarage .’ -,.. 

Midwife Not in hospital 

All live” in 

Race of child and birth weight birthsl hospital Midwife Physician Other Not stated 

All racesz Number 

Totals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,413,839 40,389 10,077 11,822 9,600 1.776 

Percent distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Less than 1,000 grams . . . . . . . . ...’. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.9 0.9 

1,000-1,499 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.6 0.2 0.1 1.0 0.8 1.0 

1,500-1,999 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4 0.7 0.6 1.6 1.5 2.0 

2,000-2,499 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5 3.9 2.9 4.8 4.1 5.1 

2,500-2,999 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.B 18.8 13.0 16.0 14.1 15.2 

3,000-3,499 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37.2 41.1 32.7 34.3 32.6 32.3 

3,500-3,999 grama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.6 27.5 32.8 28.9 30.7 29.6 

4,000-4,499 grama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B.6 7.3 13.4 9.8 11.9 10.6 

4,500 grams ormore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8 1.3 4.4 2.7 3.4 3.4 

Less than 2,500 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.0 4.9 3.8 8.5 7.3 8.9 

White Number 

Totals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,744,768 25,703 8,306 9,246 8,397 1,455 

Percent distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Less than 1,000 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.8 0.6 0.8’ 

1,000-1,499 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.8 0.6 0.7 

1,500-1,999 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 0.5 0.5 1.2 1.2 1.1 

2,000-2,499 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.8 2.8 2.4 3.6 3.4 4.0 

2,500-2,999 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ‘15.0 15.8 11.9 13.5 12.6 12.8 

3,000-3,499 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36.9 3B.9 32.9 34.1 32.8 32.9 

3,500-3,999 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.6 31.1 33.8 31.6 32.5 31.7 

4,000-4,499 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.6 B.9 13.9 11.3 12.7 12.2 

4,500 gramaor mora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.0 1.7 4.4 3.2 3.6 3.8 

Less than 2,500 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9 3.6 3.1 6.4 5.8 6.6 ‘ 

Black Number 

Tota13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564,698 12.275 1,640 2,212 890 238. 

Percent distribution 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 

Less than 1,000 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 0.3 0.1 2.0 2.8 1.5 

1,000-1,499 grama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 0.4 0.2 1.8 3.0 2.9 

1,500-1,999 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5 1.1 1.2 3.3 4.5 6.9 

2,000-2,499 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.8 6.2 5.7 9.3 10.6 11.5 

2,500-2,999 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.7 25.3 18.5 25.6 26.3 26.8 

3,000 -3,499 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38.3 42.1 31.5 34.B 30.7 28.5 

3,500 -3,999 grama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.4 20.0 27.6 18.3 15.5 15.5 

4,000 -4,499 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 4.0 10.6 4.2 5.0 4.2 

4,500 grams ormore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.8 0.6 4.6 0.8 1.6 2.2 

Less than 2,500 grams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.7 8.0 7.2 16.3 21.0 22.8 

‘Includes all resident births, regardless of attendant or place of delive~. 

21ncludes races other than white and black. 

31ncludes births with birth weight not stated, which are excluded from the computation of the percent distributiona. 

35 
.

Table 14. Percent of infants of lowh~fiti tiightb ~hgbofmother, place bfilelive~) ~pedfintetidartt;a tidrabeofctild: United States, 

1978–79 average ,. ,, 

Ail );ve 

Mic?tiife 

in .! Notirrhospita/ 

Race of child and age of mbther bi+thsl tiospitai !MidWifii Physician Other Not stated ,,, ,,, ,, 

All raceaz 

All agea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.0 4.9 3.8 8.5 7.3 8.9 

Under 15 yeara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.4 70.7 13,3 27.9 39.0 “1 0.0 

15-19 yaars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.9 7.2 &.2 16.4 18.0 16.9 

20-24 yeara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Y.b 4.8 3,8 8.5 7.1 9.7 

25-29 yeara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9 3.7 2.8 6.0 5.0 6.4 

30-34 yeara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.il 3.2 3.1 6.0 5.9 8.7 

35-49 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,6 4.6 4.2 9*1 8.0 7.8 :, 

White 

Alleges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...> 5.9 3.6 3.1 6.4 5.8 6.6 

Under 15 yeara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?1.4 2.7 i8.5 24.4 41.2 

15-19 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.0 5.6 5.1 14:4 14.6 12.3 

20-24 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8 3.6 3.0 6.4 5.6 7.2 ,, 

25-29 years ., . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1 2.6 2.3 4.5 4.3 4.7 

30-34 yeare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 2.8 2.8 5.0 5.0 7.2 

35-49 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.7 3.2 4,0 8.0 7.1 6.4 ,, 

Black 

Alleges” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.7 8.0 7.2 16.3 21.0 22.8 

Under 15 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ? 8.8 ?3.7 *5.9 31.7 37.5 *1 4.3 

15-19 years......,., . . . . . . . . . . . . ..$. . . . . . . . . . . . . {4’,4 9.6 8.9 18.8 27.6 27.4 

20-24 years, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12;6 7<8 7.1 15.2 20.7 23.0 

25-29 years....,.......,.,.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11;3 6.7 6.9 15.1 14.8 23.6 

30-34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +1.3 5.1 5.6 13.9 18.9 17.9 

35-49 yeara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,3’,5 8.6 4.9 1-4.9 17.1 19.4 ,. 

‘Iricludas all resident births, regardless of attendant otplace of delive/y 

‘Includas races othar than white and black. 

Table 15. Percent of infants of low birth Weiglit I@ liv&biti txtler,~lhbe of delivery, type of atterkferit,and race of child: United Statee, 

1978–79 average 

Midwife Not iri hospital 

VW fivt? in 

Race of child and live-birth tirder bfrths 1 hospital Wffdwik Physician Other Not stated 

All races2 

Allorders3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.0 4.9 3.8 8.5 7.3 8.9 

Fjr$t child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...*... . . . . . . 7.3 5.6 4.3 10.8 10.4 10.9 

Second child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,4 4.2 3.1 6.9 6..1 7.0 

Third child..,.,.,.........,.,., ., ...,.,,,, . . . . . . . 6.8 4.5 3.6 7.7 5.4 8.0 

Fourth child snd over.........,., . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1 5.0 4.1 7.8 6.7 9.8 

White 

Allordera3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9 3.6 3.1 6.4 5.8 6.6 

First child,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.. . .. I . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3 4.3 3.4 8.5 8.5 8.6 

$econd child.....,.......,.,.,.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8 3.0 2.8 5.3 5.0 5.1 

Third child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,,. . .. 4...,. . . . . . . 5L6 3.1 2.5 5.6 4.1 4.9 

Fourth child and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4 3.3 3.4 523 5.0 7.7 

Black 

Allorders3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.7 8.0 7.2 16,3 21.0 22.8 

First child. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 12.7 8.9 9:5 18.7 26.8 24.4 

Si?cond child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.3 7.4 4.7 ?5.1 17.8 21.7 

Third child ., . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.6 7.6 9.5 14.9 17.0 28.0 

Fourth child and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,. .,,.,. . . . . . . 13’,5 8,1 6’.7 15.5 19.1 18.3 

1Includes all resident births, regardless Of SW3NfBh\ or place W WliWwy, 

‘Includes racea other than white and black. 

31ncludes births with birth order not state& 

36 
Table 1,6. Parcant of infants of low birth qeight by ~d,ucationalattainment of mothar, place of delivery, type of attendant, and race of child: 

Total of reporting areas, 1978-79 average 

Midwife Not in hospital 

All t@ in 

Race of child and years of school completed by mother birthsl hospital Midwife Physician Other Not stated 

All racesz 

Allyears ofschool completeds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1 5.2 3.7 9.1 7.1 9.3 

O-8 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.0 5.9 5.4 9.1 12.1 10.3 

9-11 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.1 7.1 5.6 14.1 13.2 17.6 

12 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.7 4.9 3.7 9.5 6.7 10.3 

13-15 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.7 3.7 1.7 5.4 4.4 5.0 

16years ormore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.7 2.7 2.2 3.6 4.5 3.0 

White 

Allyears ofschool completeds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9 3.7 2.6 6.9 5.6 5.8 

O-8 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.8 4.6 4.6 7.1 8.2 6.4 

9-11 yaars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,8.3 5.6 4.8 11.1 9.6 2.2 

12yaa,rs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6 3.4 2.0 8.0 5.7 5.9 

13-15,y~ars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8 2.5 1.4 4.4 3.7 3.2 

16yaars ormore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 2.3 1.9 3.2 4.4 3.2 

81ack 

Allyears ofschool completeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.8 8.1 6.4 16.4 20.6 24.4 

0-8 year?+ ,. ...,.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.7 9.3 6.3 17.1 28.7 22.2 

9-n years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.8 9,3 6.2 18.9 25.5 27.0 

12 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.0 7.6 7.4 13.9 18.0 28.0 

13-15 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.7 6.5 4.7 12.6 16.2 21.3 

16years or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.9 5.0 3.6 9.2 6.3 

Ilncludes all births to mothers residing in areas reporting educational attainment of mother, regardless of attendant or place of delivery. See appendix, table 1, for a


listing of these areas.


‘Includes races other than white and black.


%cludes birtha with educational attainment of mother not stated.


Table 17. Percent of.infants of (OWbi~h weight try.marital.sta~s of mothar, place of deliuary, type of attendant, and race of child Total of 

reporting areas, 1978-79 averagp 

Midwife Nor in hospital 

All live in 

Race of child and marital status of mother bhthsl hospita/ Midwife Physician Other Not stated 

All racesz 

Total . . . ...!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.0 4.8 3.5 9.3 7.0 11.6 

Marrisd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9 3.6 3.0 6.4 5.2 6.9 

Unmarried . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.2 8.0 6.0 20.1 17.1 25.2 

White 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8 3.4 2.3 7.1 5.6 7.0 

Married . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5 3.1 2.2 5.6 4.7 5.7 

Unmarried . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.5 5.6 3.7 19.7 12.6 16.9 

81ack 

Total . . . . . . .. . . ... . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . .. . . . . ... . . . 12.7 8.4 6.6 15.6 21.1 23.2 

Married . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.5 6.4 6.1 9.9 15.2 14.1 

Unmarried . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.5 9.7 7.5 20.2 25.8 29.4 

llncludas all births to residents of areas reporting marital, status of mother, regardless of attendant or place of delivery. See appendix, table 1,for a listing of these areas. 

‘Includes races other than white and black. 

37 
Table 18. Percent of infants of low birth weight by trimester of pregnsncy prenatal care began, place of delivery, type of attendant, and race 

of child: Total of raporting ereea, 1978-79 average 

Midwife Not in hospital 

Race of child and trimester of pregnancy All live in 

prenatal care began birthsl hospital Midwife Physician Other Not stated 

AlI recesz 

Tota13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.0 4.9 3.7 8.4 7.3 8.9 

First trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3 4.1 2.9 6.8 5.8 7.6 

Second trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2 5.4 3.6 7.2 7.0 7.3 

Third trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.9 5.3 4.3 6.3 6.7 3.7 

No prenatal care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.3 12.9 6.8 25.6 11.3 16.4 

White 

Totals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8 3.6 3.0 6.4 5.8 6.5 

Firat trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4 3.0 2.4 5.3 4.8 5.0 

Second trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.7 3.9 2.7 5.5 4.8 5.7 

Third trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5 4.2 3.2 4.4 5.5 0.7 

No prenatal care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.9 9.0 5.7 21.5 9.3 16.9 

Black 

Totals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72.7 8.0 7.2 16.3 21.0 22.9 

Firat trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.6 7.2 6.1 16.2 18.8 27.3 

Second trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.8 8.0 6.5 11.9 22.6 16.1 

Third trimester . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.1 7.5 10.1 11.1 15.5 12,8 

Noprenstal care.........,.,.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.3 16.7 16.0 33.3 25.1 23.7 

Ilncludes all btrths to residents of aress reporting month of pregnancy prenatal care began, regardless of attendant or place of delivery. See appendix, table 1,for a


listing of these areas.


‘Includes races other than white and b!ack.


31ncludes births for which the month of pregnancy prenatal care began is not stated.


38 
Contents 

Technical notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 

Sources of data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 

Reporting areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 

Sampling rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 

Residence classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 

Geographic region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 

Completeness of reporting . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - . . . . . . - - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 

Demographic risk categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , -. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . 42 

Definitionofterms . . . . . . . . . . . ., . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 

Standsrdizationofpercentlowbirth weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 

List of appendix tables 

I.	 States reporting educational attainment of mother, month of pregnancy prenatal care began, number of prenatal visits, 

andmantalstatus ofmother: Each State, 1978-79 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 

II.	 Percentofrecordswithinformation missingforselectedcharactenstics, byplaceofdelivery,typeofattendant, andrace 

of child Total of reporting areas, 1978-79 average” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 

III.	 Number of live births delivered by other and unspecified attendants, by place of delivery and race of child United 

States, 1975–79 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 

39 
Appendix 

Technical notes 

Sources of data 

Data presented in this report were obtained from information reported on birth certificates filed in all 50 States and the 

District of Columbia. Additional information on bjrths is pub 

lished annually by the National Center for Health Statistics in 

Volume I of Vital Statistics of the United States. A complete 

discussion of the sources, classification, and processing of 

natality data may be found in the Technical app~ndlx of these 

volumes. 

‘Information on the attendant and place of delivery is derived 

from three birth certificate items. For all but 11 States and the 

District of Columbia, the wording of the attendant item is sidar 

to the wording of the 1978 revision of the U.S. Standard Certificate of Live Birth, “Name and title of the attendant at birth 

if other than the certifier.” State certificates that do not use the 

standard wording generally have check boxes for specifying 

attendant. However, only a few States distinguish between a 

certified nurse-midwife and lay midwife. If the attendant item 

is not completed, the determinantion of attendant is made from 

the title of the certifier. The 1978 revision of the U.S. Standard 

Certificate of Live Birth wording of the question on place of 

delivery is “Hospital-Name (if not in hospital, give street and 

number).” This wording, or one with minor variation, is used 

by all States. 

Hospital births include births occurring in hospitals, institutions, clinics, medical centers, maternity homes, and other 

medical facilities such as infiiaries and dkpensaries. Nonhospital births include those occurring in the mother’s residence, a 

doctor’s oftice, a public place, or a named place other than 

those included in the “inhospital” category. Generally, a birthing center that is a licensed facility will be classified as a hospital. Births occurring enroute to or on arrival at a hospital are 

considered to be hospital births. There were 1,053 such births 

in 1978 and 1,310 births in 1979. 

Physician deliveries include deliveries attended by an 

M.D. (Doctor of Medicine), D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathy), 

resident, intern, or extem. Midwife deliveries include deliveries 

attended by a nurse-midwife, certified nurse-midwife, midhusband, or lay mdwife. 

The tabulation of inhospital deliveries has changed in recent 

years. For the period 1935–74, the “inhospital” category in 

previous NCHS publications and in table 1 of this report includes 

births in hospitals or institutions and births in clinics, centers, 

or maternity home? only when attended by a physician. The 

“inhospital” category shown in table 1 for 1975-79 includes 

all clinic, center, and maternity home births, regardless of attendant. Data for 1975-77 differ from previously published 

NCHS data for these years which conform to the earlier definition. For 1978 and 1979, data shown in table 1 and other 

NCHS publications are comparable-all cliiic, center, and 

maternity home births, regardless of attendant, are classified as 

“inhospital” births. 

Reporting areas 

The birth certificates of all reporting areas include questions on attendant and place of delivery, race, nativity, age of 

mother, and birth order. However, not all areas request information on other characteristics discussed in this report. Table I 

shows the areas that requested information on educational attainment of mother, month of pregnancy prenatal care began, 

number of prenatal visits, and marital status of mother. The 

size of the reporting area for any table is dependent on which 

characteristics are included. 

Sampling rates 

Trend data shown in table 1 are based on varying sample 

sizes. Data for 1935, 1940, 1945, 1950, and 1955 are based 

on the total ffle of birth records; data for 1960, 1965, 1966, 

and 1968-71 are derived horn 50-percent samples of birth 

records; data for 1967 are based in part on 20-percent and in 

part on 50-percent samples. Birth statistics for the years 

1972-79 are based on 100 percent of the birth certificates 

from States participating in the Wal Statistics, Cooperative 

Program (VSCP) and on a 50-percent sample of births from all 

other States. The size of the VSCP reporting area grew from 6 

States in 1972 to 42 States in 1979. 

Residence classification 

All tables included in this report are by place of residence 

of the mother and, for 1970–79, exclude births to nonresidents 

of the United States. Births to U.S. residents occurring outside 

the country are also excluded. Table 1 includes data for Alaska 

and Hawaii begiming in 1960. 

Geographic region 

For the purpose of classifying the population by geographic 

area, the States are grouped into four regions that correspond 

to those used by the U.S. Bureau of the Census as follows: 

Region States included 

Northeast. . . . . . Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New 

York, New”Jersey, and Pennsylvania. 

North Central. . . Ohio, Illinois, Indisna, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri. 

40 
Table 1. States reporting educational attainment of mother, month of pregnancy prenatal care began, number of prenatal visits, and marital


status of mothec Each State, 1978-79


[Unless otherwise noted, reporting was for both 1978 and 1979. [terns shown are those on the Standard Certificate of Live 8irth. “X denotes presence of item on the 

State certificate] 

Month of Number Marital 

Educational pregnancy of status 

attainment prenatal prenatal . of 

State of mother care began visits mother 

lDidnot report in 1979. 

2Did not report in 1978. 

Region—Con. States inc/uded—Con. 

South . . . . . . . . .	 Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia. 

West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, 

Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, 

Louisiana, and Arkansas. 

West . . . . . . . . .	 Washington, Oregon, California, Nevadd, 

New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, 

Kansaa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South 

Dakota, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Montana, 

Wyoming, Alaska, and Hawaii. 

x x x x


x x x x


x x x x


x x x x


1X x lx
 x x x x
 x x x
 x x x x
 x x x x
 x x x x
 x x x


x x x x


x x x x


x x x x


x x x x


x x x x


x x x x
 x x x x
 x x x x


x x x x


x x 2X


x x x x


x x x


x x x x
 x x x x


x x x x
 x x x


x x x x


x x x


x x x x


x x x x


x x x
 x x x x
 x x x x
 x x x
 x x x x
 x x x x


x x x x


x x x x


x x x x


x x x x


x x x x


x
 x x x x


x x x x


x x x x


x x x


x x x x


x x x x


x x x x


Completeness of reporting 

The percent of records with information missing for the 

variables discussed in this reportare shown in table II. Age of 

mother, race of child, and marital status are not included since 

these are imputed when not reported. When the mother’s age is 

not stated on the birth certificate or reported as less than 10 or 

greater than 49 years, it is imputed on the basis of a previously 

processed record. Race of the child is also imputed from a 

41 
Table Il. Percent of records with information missing for ;eldctAd charectaristic~by place of delivery, type of attehdant, and race of child: 

Total of repotiing areas, 1978-79 average 

Not id hospital 

All Midwife 

live in Not 

Race of child and characteristic births hospital Midwife Physician Other stated 

Live-birth order 

Allracesl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.8 1.6 1.3 2.5 2.4 4.7 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.7 1.0 1.0 2.4 2.4 4.7 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 2.9 2.2 1.1 1.8 4.6 

Total-bitih order 

Allracesl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 1.7 2.1 3.1 3.0 5.2 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0 1.1 1.7 3.0 2.9 5.2 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6 3.1 2.8 1.9 2.1 4.8 

Educational attainment of mother 

Allracesl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.7 1.9 3.1 3.3 5.3 10.3 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6 1.6 3.1 3.1 5.4 10.8 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 1.3 2.6 2.7 4.0 7.7 

Month of pregnancy prenatal care began 

Allracesl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 3.9 6.2 5.0 8.1 10.5 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9 3.3 5.B 4.8 8.1 9.9 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5 4.3 7.3 4.4 6.4 11.8 

Number of prenatal vkks 

Allracesl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9 5.5 6.9 6.4 9.5 14.7 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4 4.6 6.6 6.2 9.4 14.7 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.0 6.5 6.7 6.2 8.9 12.8 

Birth weight 

Allracesl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2 0.2 0.7 1.2 3.0 5.5 

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.2 0.2 0.7 1.2 2.9 5.7 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3 0.2 0.8 1.2 3.0 5.0 

Nativity of mother 

Allracesl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.5 0.4 1.9 

White, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.5 0.4 1.9 

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.6 1.9 

1Includes races other than white and black.


NOTE Live-birth order, total-birrh order, birth weight, and nativity of mother were reported by all areas; s~e Table I for a Iistin9 of areaa reP0~in9 educational attainment


of mother, month of pregnancy prenatsl csre began, and number of prenatal visits. 

previous record when information for both mother’s and father’s 

race is missing. In areas reporting marital status, mothers for 

whom this information is missing are assumed to be married. 

For each of these three variables-age, race, and marital status— 

information was imputed for less than on+-half of one percent 

of all records. 

The extent of missing information about midwife-in-hospital 

deliveries is about the same as for all births during this period 

except for live-birth order and total-birth order. For these two 

variables, nonreporting is higher for midwife deliveries, but still 

low overall. The level of missing information is generally higher 

for midwife and physician home deliveries than for midwife-inhospital delive~es. The most incomplete reporting is for home 

deliveries when the attendant was indicated as someone other 

than a physician or midwife or when the attendant was not 

stated (table II). 

For the years 1975-79 there were substantial numbers of 

inhospital births with an unspecified attendant. However, durFigures represent percbnt of records in reporting areas with miaaing information. 

.,. ing this period such nonreporting decliied markedly-from 

64,069 births in 1975 to 10,994 btis in 1979. The number of 

home births with an unspecified attendant also declined—from 

3,345 births in 1975 to 1,682 births in 1979 (table III). 

A national test of birth registration completeness for 

1964-68 indicated that 99.5 percent of white births and 98.6 

percent of all other births delivered in hospitals were registered.16 A lower proportion of out-of-hospital births were 

registered—94.4 percent of white births and 93.4 percent of all 

other births. Several studies indldate that registration of home 

births in some areas of the country maybe substantially lower 

than these national averages in recent years. *7 

Demographic risk categories 

Maternal age and total-birth order (the sum of live births 

and fetal deaths including the present delivexy) categories con2 

NOTE A list of references follows tbe text. 

42 
Table Ill. Number of live births delivered by other and unspecified attendants, by place of delivery and rece of child: United States, 1975-79 

In hospirall Not in hospitalz 

Total Total -

other other 

and and 

Race of child and year of birth unspecified Other Unspecified unspecified Other Unspecified 

All races3 

1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,21,5 11,221 10,994 11,714 10.032 1,682 

1978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,700 12,721 29,979 11,036 9,167 1,869 

1977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59,596 12,531 47,065 10,402 7,449 2,953 

1976 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58,153 12,871 45,282 8,178 5,914 2,264 

1975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71,191 7,122 64,069 6,305 2,960 3,345 

White 

1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.537 8,380 9,157 10,159 8,734 1,425 

1978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,929 9,952 23,977 9,544 8,059 1,485 

1977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,699 9,643 38,056 9,008 6,605 2,403 

1976 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,845 9,642 36,203 6,979 5,148 1,831 

1975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,734 5,342 52,392 5,329 2,585 2.744 

Black 

7979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,061 1,856 1,205 1,155 954 201 

7978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,781 1,875 4,906 1,100 825 275 

1977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,907 2,105 6,802 1,023 . 578 445 

1976 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,858 2,480 7,378 929 550 379 

7975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,906 1,311 9,595 789 281 508 

11nclude5 births occurring enmute to or on arrival at hospital.


‘Includes births with place of delivew not stated.


31ncludes races other than white and black.


NOTE Data by attendant for years 1975 to 1977 differ from those previously published;


sidered as indicators of demographic risk in this report are in 

accordrmce with those used in a study of New York City infant 

deaths.l 1These were determined by examining the infant mortality experience of the United States 1960 live birth cohort. 

The age and total-birth order combinations that most clearly 

indicated an elevated risk of infant mortality were selected. 

They arEX 

All under 15 years of age 

15–1 9 years of age and total-birth order 2 or more 

20–24 years of age and total-birth order 4 or more 

25–29 years of age and total-birth order 5 or more 

30–34 years of age and total-birth order 1 or 6 or more 

35–39 years of age and total-birth order 1 or 5 or more 

All 40 years or more of age 

Records where total-birth order could not be determined 

were excluded from thk analysis. 

Definitionof terms 

Low birth weight—hw birth weight was defined as 2,500 

grams or less in 1978 and as less than 2,500 grams in 1979. 

Infants for whom birth weight was not reported are excluded 

from the computation of percent low birth weight. 

Race—Births are classified according to the race or origin 

of the parents. The categories are “White,” “Black,” “American Indkm,” “Chinese,” “Japanese,” “Hawaiian,” “Filipino,” 

“Other Asian or Pacitic Islander,” and “Other.” The category 

“White” comprises births reported as white, Mexican, Puerto 

Rican, Cuban, or other Hispanic origin. In all tables, race refers 

to the child’s race. However, since the race of the mother and 

NOTE A list of references follows the text. 

see “Sources of‘ data; 

child are identical for most births, in text statements the racial 

designation of the child is also used to identify the mother. 

Urban @zces-Urban places are classified according to 

the population enumerated in the 1970 Census of Population. 

They include incorporated cities of 10,000 population or more, 

and towns in New England, townships in New Jersey and Permsylvania, and counties in other States that meet certain criteria. 

The remaining nonurban areas of the country and smaller urban 

places of less than 10,000 population are included in the category “balance of area.” 

Standardizationof percent 

low birth weight 

The direct method of standard~ation was used to compare 

the percent low birth weight of infants delivered by midwives in 

hospitals and infanta delivered at home, without the iniluence 

of dMerences in age of the mother or live-birth order. The 

standard population was the distribution of all births in the 

1978–79 period by age of the mother and live-birth order. 

Standardization was performed separately for births of all races, 

for white births and for black bir&hsusing the following formula 

yb%,b ml= , x 100 ~ P 

where m, = standardized percent for given race, 

‘m~,~=	 percent low birth weight for each age and birthorder group for given race 

Pa,~=	 average number of births in 1~78–79 for each age 

and birth-order group for given race 

P=	 total standard population (average of 1978-79) 

for given race 

43 

�U.S.wV?XOW?WPRINTING 0PPIC3 : 1984 0-421-161/303 
Vital and Health Statistics 

series descriptions 

SERIES 1.	 Programs and Collection Procedures—Reports describing 

the general programs of the National Center for Health Statistics and its offices and divisions and the data collection 

methods used. They also include definitions and other material necessa~ for understanding the data. 

SERIES 2.	 Data Evaluation and Methods Research—Studies of new 

statistical methodology including experimental tests of new 

survey methods, studies of vital statistics collection. methods, 

new analytical techniques, objective evaluations of reliability of collected data, and contributions to statistical theory. 

SERIES 3.	 Analytical and Epidemiological Studies—Reports presenting analytical or interpretive studies based on vital and 

health statistics, carrying the analysis further than the expository types of reports in the other series. 

SERIES 4.	 Documents and Committee Reports-Final reports of major committees concerned with vital and health statistics 

and documents such as recommended model vital registration lawa and revised birth and death certificates. 

SERIES 10.	 Data From the National Health Interview Survey-Statistics 

on illness, accidental injuries, disability, use of hospital, 

medical, dental, and other services, and other health-related 

topics, all based on data collected in the continuing national 

household interview survey. 

SERIES 11.	 Data From the National Health Examination Survey and 

the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey— 

Data from direct examination, testing, and measurement of 

national samples of the civilian noninstitutionalized population provide the basis for (1) estimates of tha medically 

defined prevalence of specific diseases in the United States 

and the distributions of the population with respect to 

physical, physiological, and psychological characteristics 

and (2) analysis of relationships among the various measurements without reference to an explicit finite universe of 

persons. 

SERIES 12.	 Data From the Institutionalized Population Surveys-Discontinued in 1975. Reports from these surveys are included 

in Series 13. 

SERIES 13.	 Data on Health Resources Utilization—Statistics on the 

utilization of health manpower and facilities providing longterm care, ambulatory care, hospital care, and family planning 

services. 

SERIES 14. 

SERIES 15. 

SERIES 20. 

SERIES 21. 

SERIES 22. 

SERIES 23. 

Data on Health Resources Manpower and Facilities— 

Statistics on the numbers, geographic distribution, and characteristics of health resources including physicians, dentists, 

nurses, other health occupations, hospitals, nursing homes, 

and outpatient facilities. 

Data From Special Surveys-Statistics on health and healthrelated topics collected in special survey sthatare not a part 

of the continuing data systams of the National Center for 

Hea Ith Statistics. 

Data on Mortality-Various statistics on mortality other 

than as included in regular annual or monthly reports. Specialanalyses bycauseof death, age, andotherdemograp hic 

variables; geographic and time series analyses; and statistics on characteristics of deaths not available from the vital 

records based on sample surveys of those records. 

Data on Natality, Marriage, and Divorce-Various statisticson natality, marriage, and divorce otherthan as included 

in regular annual or monthly reports. Special analyses by 

demographic variables geographic and time series analyses; studias of fertility; and statistics on characteristics of 

births not available from the vital records based on sample 

surveys of those records. 

Data From the National Monthly and Natality Surveys— 

Discontinued in 1975. Reports from these sample surveys 

based on vital records are included in Series 20 and 21, 

respectively. 

Data From the National Survey of Family Growth-Statistics on fertility, family formation and dissolution, family planning, and related maternal and infant health topics derived 

from a periodic survey of a nationwide probability sample of 

ever-married women 15-44 years of age. 

For a list of titles of reports published in these series, write to: 

Scientific and Technical Information Branch 

National Center for Health Statistics 

Public Health Service 

Hyattsville, Md. 20782 

301-436 -NCHS