These tables present a summary of fetal and infant deaths, with a focus on deaths and stillbirths registered in 2014. Information presented includes demographic information (eg, ethnicity and sex), cause of death, gestation and birthweight, as well as deaths classified as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI).
This dataset is a continuation of the Fetal and Infant Death series. In editions of this series prior to 2012, individuals who were not identified as Māori or Pacific were presented as being part of the 'Other' ethnic group (eg, NZ European, Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern, Unknown). Since 2012, individuals of Asian ethnicity (but not Māori or Pacific) are grouped as 'Asian' and all other individuals are grouped as 'European or Other'.
This 2014 edition includes more detailed breakdown of the gestation and birthweight categories to provide further insight. Rates for district health boards (DHBs) are graphed with error bars that represent 99% confidence intervals. Caution is advised when comparing these results with previous editions, which provided 95% confidence intervals.
In 2014, the Department of Internal Affairs registered a significant number of neonatal deaths that had occurred in 2011 and 2012. Therefore, neonatal and infant deaths in 2011 and 2012 are lower than they would have been if these deaths were registered at the time they occurred. For more information please visit DataInfo+
Key findings for 2014
- There were 366 fetal deaths and 331 infant deaths registered with Births, Deaths and Marriages in 2014.
- This equates to a fetal death rate of 6.2 per 1000 total births and an infant death rate of 5.7 per 1000 live births.
- Between 1996 and 2014, there was a statistically significant decrease in the infant death rate. The rate fell by 21%, from 7.3 to 5.7 per 1000 live births. This decrease was primarily due to a notable decrease in post-neonatal deaths.
- Over the same time period, the fetal death rate fluctuated between 5.9 and 8.6 per 1000 total births.
- The fetal death rate was highest for the European and Other ethnic group in 2014 (7.1 per 1000 total births). Māori, Asian and Pacific peoples ethnic groups had similar fetal death rates that were lower (5.6, 5.5 and 5.3 per 1000 total births, respectively).
- In 2014, the fetal death rate was 25–35% lower than the rate in the previous five-year period (2009–2013) for the Māori, Asian and Pacific peoples ethnic groups. The fetal death rate was 9% higher than the rate in the previous five-year period for the European and Other ethnic group.
- In 2014, infant death rates for the Māori and Pacific peoples ethnic groups (7.2 and 7.1 per 1000 live births, respectively) were 1.5 times the rate for the European and Other ethnic group (4.6 per 1000 live births).
- There was a 51% increase in the infant death rate for the Asian ethnic group in 2014 compared with the previous five-year period (2009–2013). Infant death rates for Māori and European and Other ethnic groups in 2014 increased by 8–9% compared to the previous five-year period. There was little change in rate for the Pacific peoples ethnic group.
Maternal age group
- The fetal death rate in 2014 was highest for babies of older women giving birth (9.5 per 1000 total births for the 40+ years age group), followed by babies of young women (7.6 per 1000 total births for the <20 years age group).
- The trend in 2014 was similar to previous years with higher fetal death rates seen in babies of young and older women and lower rates seen in babies of women aged 20–39 years.
- Babies of young women (<20 years age group) had the highest infant death rate, at 12.3 per 1000 live births. The rate was lowest for babies of women in the 30–34 years and 35–39 years age groups (both 4.5 per 1000 live births).
- Infant death rates in 2014 increased by 16–32% for babies of women in the <20 years, 25–29 years and 30–34 years age groups, compared to rates for the five years previous (2009–2013). Rates in 2014 were similar to rates for the previous five years for the 20–24 years and 35–39 years age groups. Infant death rates decreased by 17% in the 40+ years age group over the same time period.
- In 2014, the fetal death rate was highest in the least deprived areas (quintile 1, 7.0 per 1000 total births). There was no pattern in fetal death rate across the deprivation quintiles.
- As with the previous five-year period (2009–2013), infant death rates in 2014 increased with increasing level of deprivation. The infant death rate for the most deprived areas (quintile 5, 9.1 per 1000 live births), was nearly three times the rate of the least deprived areas (quintile 1, 3.2 per 1000 live births).
- Approximately 82% of fetal deaths and 60% of infant deaths registered in 2014 were preterm (<37 weeks’ gestation), the majority of which were very preterm (<28 weeks’ gestation).
- Approximately 66% of fetal deaths registered in 2014 had a birthweight of less than 1000g, most of which had a birthweight of less than 500g. Approximately 47% of infant deaths had a birthweight of less than 1000g, and these were spread evenly between the <500g and 500–999g birthweight groups.
- Since the late 1990s there has been a notable decrease in fetal, perinatal and post neonatal death rates in the >4500g birthweight group.
District health board region
- There was a wide range of fetal and infant death rates across district health boards (DHBs).
- Northland DHB had the highest fetal death rate (9.8 per 1000 total births), followed by Nelson Marlborough DHB (8.9 per 1000 total births). Fetal death rates were lowest in Tairāwhiti and Wairarapa DHBs (0.0 and 2.0 per 1000 total births, respectively).
- Tairāwhiti DHB had the highest rate of infant deaths (11.9 per 1000 live births), twice the national rate in 2014.
Cause of death
- Approximately 70% of fetal deaths had a cause of death in the ICD-10 chapter group ‘Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (P00–P96)'; the most common specified cause of fetal death being ‘Slow fetal growth and fetal malnutrition (P05)’, followed by ‘Disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight, not elsewhere classified (P07)’.
- ‘Fetal death of unspecified cause (P95)’ accounted for 42% of all fetal deaths.
- ICD-10 chapter groups ‘Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period (P00–P96)’ and ‘Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00–Q99) accounted for 52% and 21%, respectively, of infant deaths.
- The most common cause of infant death was ‘Disorders related to short gestation and low birthweight (P07)’ (27%).
Sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) in those aged <1 year
- There were 45 deaths recorded as sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) in 2014, including 14 sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) deaths. The SUDI deaths included 29 males and 16 females.
- The SUDI rate in 2014 (0.8 per 1000 live births) was approximately half the rate in 2000 (1.5 per 1000 live births).
- In the five-year period, 2010–2014, the SUDI rate for babies in the Māori ethnic group was statistically significantly higher than all other ethnic groups. The SUDI rate for babies born in the most deprived areas (quintile 5) was statistically significantly higher than the rate for all other deprivation quintiles except quintile 4.
- During this same period, 2010–2014, SUDI rates were generally higher among babies born with a low birthweight (3.6 per 1000 live births for those with a birthweight between 1000g–1499g). SUDI rates were also generally higher among babies born to young mothers under 20 years (2.4 per 1000 live births), and at 32–36 weeks’ gestation (2.2 per 1000 live births). The highest SUDI rates were in Tairāwhiti and Lakes DHBs (2.5 and 2.0 per 1000 live births, respectively; statistically significantly higher than the national SUDI rate). Both Waitemata and Auckland DHBs had statistically significantly lower rates than the national rate.
Note: The number of fetal and infant deaths in New Zealand is small and may cause rates to fluctuate markedly from year to year. Rates derived from small numbers should be interpreted with caution. The denominator for percentage calculations is the total for each variable for which the information was recorded and excludes 'Unknown' categories.