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- Prematurity (less than 37 weeks of gestation) and low birth weight (less than 2,500 grams at birth) are both important risk factors for infant mortality. Approximately six out of every ten infant deaths were premature or had a low birth weight, and most of those had both prematurity and low birth weight.
- In 1999, of the 156 infant deaths in the province, 63 were full term (gestational age 37 weeks or more), 91 infants were premature babies (gestational age less than 37 weeks), and the gestational ages of the remaining two were unknown. Among full term babies, there were 1.59 infant deaths per 1,000 live births with normal gestational age. The infant mortality rate rose dramatically for premature infants; there were 11.90 infant deaths per 1,000 live births with between 28 and 36 weeks of gestation, and 401.32 deaths per 1,000 live births with only 20 to 27 weeks of gestation.
- Of the 91 infant deaths who were premature, 87 were also low birth weight babies, and 61 of these were both extremely premature (gestational age of less than 28 weeks at birth) and extremely low birth weight (less than 1,500 grams). The infant mortality rate for the extremely premature babies (401.32) reflects the low birth weight and fragile health of these babies.
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