NCHS Data Brief ■ No. 318 ■ August 2018

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Center for Health Statistics

Births in the United States, 2017

 Joyce A. Martin, M.P.H, Brady E. Hamilton, Ph.D., and Michelle J.K. Osterman, M.H.S.

Key findings

Data from the National 

Vital Statistics System

● The U.S. general fertility

rate (births per 1,000 females

aged 15–44) declined 3%

between 2016 and 2017; rates

declined for nearly all race and

Hispanic-origin groups.

● The teen birth rate declined

7% from 2016 to 2017, to 18.8

births per 1,000 females aged

15–19. Rates fell for nearly

all race and Hispanic-origin

groups.

● Medicaid was the source of

payment for 43.0% of all births

in 2017, an increase of 1%

from 2016, and it increased for

all maternal age groups.

● The preterm birth rate rose

1% in 2017, with increases 

among births to women aged 

25–34.

This report presents selected highlights from 2017 final birth data on key 

demographic, health care utilization, and infant health indicators. General 

fertility rates (the number of births per 1,000 females aged 15–44 years) and 

teen birth rates are presented by race and Hispanic origin. The use of Medicaid 

as the source of payment for the delivery and preterm birth rates are presented 

by the age of the mother. Data for 2017 are compared with 2016 for each 

indicator.

Keywords: fertility rates • Medicaid • preterm births • National Vital Statistics 

System

The general fertility rate declined for nearly all race and 

Hispanic-origin groups in 2017.

Figure 1. General fertility rates, by race and Hispanic origin of mother: United States, 2016 

and 2017

 

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOTES: The general fertility rate is the number of births per 1,000 females aged 15–44. Race groups are single race. Access data 

table for Figure 1 at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db318_table.pdf#1.

SOURCE: NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, Natality.
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● The United States general fertility rate was 60.3 in 2017, down 3% from 2016 (Figure 1).

● The largest declines between 2016 and 2017 were for non-Hispanic Asian and non-Hispanic

American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) females, down 5% each, to 58.0 and 59.5,

respectively.

● Fertility rates declined by less than 1% for non-Hispanic black (to 63.1%), 3% for nonHispanic white (to 57.2), and 4% for Hispanic (to 67.6) females between 2016 and 2017.

Teen birth rates declined for nearly all race and Hispanic-origin groups in 

2017.

● The teen birth rate declined 7% from 2016 to 2017, to 18.8 births per 1,000 females aged

15–19 (Figure 2).

● The largest decline in the teen birth rate from 2016 to 2017 was for non-Hispanic Asian

females, down 15% to 3.3 births per 1,000.

● The teen birth rate declined 8% for non-Hispanic white (to 13.2), 6% for non-Hispanic black

(to 27.5) and AIAN (to 32.9), and 9% for Hispanic (to 28.9) females.

● The observed decline in the teen birth rate for non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Other

Pacific Islander females (28.6 to 25.5) was not statistically significant.

Figure 2. Birth rates for females aged 15–19, by race and Hispanic origin of mother: United States, 2016 and 2017

 

 

 

2016 2017

Rate per 1,000 females aged 15–19

Non-Hispanic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOTES: Race groups are single race. Access data table for Figure 2 at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db318_table.pdf#2.

SOURCE: NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, Natality.
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Approximately two in five deliveries had Medicaid as the source of payment 

for the delivery in 2017.

● In 2017, 43.0% of all births had Medicaid as the source of payment for the delivery, up from 

42.6% in 2016 (Figure 3). 

● Medicaid coverage increased for all maternal age groups between 2016 and 2017. The 

largest increases were for women aged 30 and over, up 3%–4%.

● Medicaid coverage decreased with increasing maternal age, from a high of 77.5% (for 2017) 

among females under age 20, to 27.8% for women aged 35–39, and then increased slightly 

for women aged 40 and over (30.2%).

Figure 3. Medicaid as source of payment for the delivery, by age of mother: United States, 2016 and 2017

 

 

 

 

2016 2017

Percent

Age of mother2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOTE: Access data table for Figure 3 at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db318_table.pdf#3.

SOURCE: NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, Natality.
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Preterm birth rates were up overall, and among births to women aged 

25–34.

● The United States preterm birth rate rose 1% in 2017 to 9.93% of all births, from 9.85% in 

2016 (Figure 4).

● The rate of late preterm births increased to 7.17% in 2017, from 7.09% in 2016; the early 

preterm birth rate was unchanged at 2.76%. 

● Total preterm rates increased 1%–2% among births to women aged 25–29 and 30–34; late 

preterm rates rose for women aged 20–24, 25–29, and 30–34. 

● The only increase in early preterm births by maternal age was for women aged 25–29. 

● In both 2016 and 2017, preterm rates were lowest among births to women aged 25–29 

(9.28% in 2017) and highest among births to women aged 40 and over (14.59%).

Figure 4. Preterm birth rates, by age of mother: United States, 2016 and 2017

 

NOTE: Figures may not equal totals due to rounding. Preterm is less than 37 completed weeks of gestation, early preterm is less than 34 weeks, and late preterm 

is 34 to 36 weeks. Access data table for Figure 4 at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db318_table.pdf#4.

SOURCE: NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, Natality. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
NCHS Data Brief ■ No. 318 ■ August 2018

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Summary

Birth certificate data for 2017 show continued declines in childbearing in the United States 

overall, and among most race and Hispanic-origin groups. The 2017 general fertility rate fell 

to another all-time low and the number of births was the lowest reported in more than 30 years 

(1987) (1). Teen childbearing also declined to a record low in 2017, and is down 55% since 2007 

(2). Overall and late preterm birth rates increased in 2017 with rises for women aged 25–34. 

Medicaid as the primary source of payment for delivery increased in 2017 overall and for each 

maternal age group. 

This report presents general fertility and teen birth rates for final 2017 data by race and Hispanic 

origin, which were not previously available with provisional data (2). This report also presents 

preterm birth by maternal age. Rates of preterm birth by race and Hispanic origin are available in 

2017 provisional data (2), and recent reports demonstrate increases in preterm and late preterm 

rates during 2014–2016 among most race and Hispanic-origin groups (3,4). 

The 2017 data marks the second year for which national data for most items that were new to, or 

changed with, the 2003 revision of the U.S. Standard Certificate of Live Birth, including source 

of payment for delivery, have been available.

Definitions

General fertility rate: Number of births per 1,000 females aged 15–44.

Teen birth rate: Number of births per 1,000 females aged 15–19.

Medicaid (or comparable state program) payment: The primary source of payment for the 

delivery at the time of delivery. 

Preterm birth rate: Births delivered prior to 37 completed weeks of gestation per 100 births. 

Gestational age is based on the obstetric estimate of gestation.

Early preterm birth rate: Births delivered prior to 34 completed weeks of gestation per 100 births.

Late preterm birth rate: Births delivered between 34–36 completed weeks of gestation per 100 

births.
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Data source and methods

This report uses data from the Natality Data File from the National Vital Statistics System 

(NVSS). The vital statistics natality file is based on information derived from birth certificates and 

includes information for all births occurring in the United States. This Data Brief accompanies 

the release of the 2017 natality public use file (5). More detailed analysis of the topics presented 

in this report plus many other topics, such as births to unmarried females, prenatal care, tobacco 

use during pregnancy, pregnancy risk factors, receipt of WIC food, maternal morbidity, and 

breastfeeding, is possible by using the annual natality files (5). 

The race and Hispanic-origin groups shown in this report follow the 1997 standards and differ 

from the bridged-race categories shown in reports prior to 2016 (1). 

References to increases or decreases in rates or percentages indicate that differences are 

statistically significant at the 0.05 level. Trends in rates for Figures 3 and 4 were evaluated using 

the Cochran-Armitage test for trends, a modified Chi-squared test. Computations exclude records 

for which information is unknown.

About the authors

Joyce A. Martin, Brady E. Hamilton, and Michelle J.K. Osterman are with the National Center for 

Health Statistics, Division of Vital Statistics, Reproductive Statistics Branch.
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References

1. Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Osterman MJK, Driscoll AK, Mathews TJ. Births: Final data for

2015. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 66 no 1. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health

Statistics. 2017.

2. Hamilton BE, Martin JA, Osterman MJK, Driscoll AK, Rossen LM. Births: Provisional

data for 2017. Vital Statistics Rapid Release; no 4. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health

Statistics. May 2018.

3. Martin JA, Osterman MJK. Describing the increase in preterm births in the United States,

2014–2016. NCHS Data Brief, no 312. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.

2018.

4. Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Osterman MJK. Births in the United States, 2016. NCHS Data

Brief, no 287. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2017.

5. National Center for Health Statistics. Natality public-use file and CD-ROM.

Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Published annually. Available from:

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/VitalStatsOnline.htm.
NCHS Data Brief ■ No. 318 ■ August 2018

Suggested citation

Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Osterman MJK. 

Births in the United States, 2017. NCHS 

Data Brief, no 318. Hyattsville, MD: 

National Center for Health Statistics. 2018.

Copyright information

All material appearing in this report is in 

the public domain and may be reproduced 

or copied without permission; citation as to 

source, however, is appreciated.

National Center for Health 

Statistics

Charles J. Rothwell, M.S., M.B.A., Director

Jennifer H. Madans, Ph.D., Associate 

Director for Science

Division of Vital Statistics

Delton Atkinson, M.P.H., M.P.H., P.M.P., 

Director

Hanyu Ni, Ph.D., M.P.H., Associate Director 

for Science

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