Neonatal deaths in Alabama, 1970-1980: an analysis of birth weight- and race-specific neonatal mortality rates.

Alabama birth and death certificate tapes for the years 1970-1980 were linked and analyzed to determine race-specific birth weight and neonatal mortality rate distributions. Changes which occurred over time were evaluated. Our analyses demonstrated that there were no substantial changes in birth weight distributions which could account for the nearly 50% reduction in the neonatal mortality rate in Alabama during this period. Birth weight changes did result in a 12% decrease in the white neonatal mortality rate but resulted in no decrease in the nonwhite neonatal mortality rate. All other improvement in the neonatal mortality rate is attributed to better survival within birth weight groups. Eighty percent of the reduction in the neonatal mortality rate during this period of time occurred in low-birth weight infants with most of the reduction found in infants weighing between 1,000 and 2,000 gm. Improvements in the quality of medical care and better access to medical care through regionalization of perinatal services, especially for low-birth weight infants, are suggested as the major reasons for this improvement.