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TABLE 4:

FIGURE 6:

Highlights:
Tab 4/Fig 6

• In 2000, there were 148 infant deaths (age at death less than one year) in the province, for an infant mortality rate of 3.7 per 1,000 live births, a record low rate for British Columbia. This is a slight decrease from 158 infant deaths and an infant mortality rate of 3.8 per 1,000 live births in 1999. In the last seven years, there has been a decrease in both the number of infant deaths and the infant mortality rate.

• Since 1991, the B.C. infant mortality rate has been consistently below the Canadian rate.

• Out of the 148 infant deaths in 2000:
  • 82 were in the early neonatal period (age at death less than 7 days)
  • 22 died between 7 and 27 days after birth
  • 44 were in the post-neonatal period (age at death 28-364 days).

• Infant mortality rates in B.C. have fallen dramatically to almost one sixth of the rates seen in 1965. Decreases in early neonatal mortality (age at death less than seven days) and neonatal mortality (age at death less than 28 days) have been major contributors to the overall decline in infant mortality rates over this time period. In Canada infant mortality rates have fallen to approximately one quarter of the rates seen in 1965.

• Perinatal mortality refers to fetal deaths (stillbirths) and early neonatal deaths (age at death less than 7 days). Since the causes of stillbirths and early neonatal deaths are often similar, the perinatal mortality rate is used as a health status measure. Reviewing perinatal mortality (by combining data from Tables 1 and 4) shows that the decline in infant deaths has not been offset by an increase in stillbirths.

• Post neonatal deaths decreased from 94 in 1995 to 44 in 2000 and the post neonatal mortality rate declined from 2.0 to 1.1 deaths per 1,000 live births. The 2000 post neonatal statistics were the lowest ever recorded in British Columbia.