Fetal and infant deaths web tool

The web tool presents a summary of fetal and infant deaths, with a focus on deaths and stillbirths registered in 2021. 

Information presented includes demographic information (e.g., 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).

Note:

Data for 2020 and 2021 is not complete as Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is yet to receive cause of death information for some deaths being investigated by the coroner. For this reason, cause of death information for 2020 and 2021 years is not yet complete enough to release publicly.

The web tool will be updated with cause of death information for these years when coroners complete their findings.

Data for 2019 is provisional and is subject to change in future releases of the web tool. 

Overview

• There were 435 fetal deaths and 323 infant deaths registered in 2021.
• This equates to a fetal death rate of 7.3 per 1000 total births, and an infant death rate of 5.4 per 1000 live births.
• Between 1996 and 2021, there was a significant decrease in the infant death rate. The rate fell from 7.3 to 5.4 infant deaths 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 was between 6.1 and 8.5 per 1000 total births.
• Between 2012 and 2021, the total number of live births decreased by around 4.4%. The total number of live births each year can influence the rate of fetal and infant deaths.

By ethnic group

• In 2021, there were no significant differences in fetal death rates between ethnic groups.
• In 2021, there were no significant differences in infant death rates between ethnic groups.
• In the previous five-year period (2016–2020), infant death rates for Māori and Pacific peoples (5.7 and 7.3, respectively) were significantly higher than rates for the European or Other and Asian ethnic groups (3.8 and 3.0, respectively).

By maternal age group

• In 2021, the infant death rate was highest among women giving birth who were less than 20 years of age (9.6 per 1000 live births).
• In the previous five-year period (2016–2020), the infant death rate for babies of women aged less than 20 years (8.8 per 1000 live births) was higher than for babies of women in all other age groups.
  
  

By socioeconomic deprivation

• In 2021, the fetal death rate in deprivation quintile 5 (8.7 per 1000 total births) was significantly higher than that in deprivation quintile 2 (5 per 1000 total births).
• The highest infant death rates in 2021 were for the most deprived areas (quintiles 4 and 5). In quintile 5, the infant death rate was close to 2 times the rate in the least deprived areas (quintile 5, 6.2 per 1000 live births, and quintile 1, 3.7 per 1000 live births). A similar ratio was observed in the previous five-year period (2016–2020).

By gestation period

• Approximately 84% of fetal deaths and 67% of infant deaths registered in 2021 were preterm (less than 37 weeks’ gestation), the majority of which were very preterm (less than 28 weeks’ gestation).

By birthweight

• Approximately 61% of fetal deaths registered in 2021 had a birthweight of less than 1000g, and approximately 35% had a birthweight of less than 500g.
• Approximately 49% of infant deaths had a birthweight of less than 1000g, and approximately 22% weighed 500–999g at birth.

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.

This dataset is a continuation of the Fetal and Infant Deaths series.

At the time the data was extracted there were 25 infant deaths registered in 2020 awaiting final coroner's findings, and 48 infant deaths registered in 2021 awaiting final coroner's findings. 

The number of deaths with no known cause is too high for cause of death information for these years to be considered complete. As such, the web tool does not include cause of death information for these years.

For 2019 data, 9 infant deaths were awaiting coroner's final findings at the time of extract.

These deaths may be assigned a provisional code based on limited information available at the time, while deaths with no known cause awaiting coroners’ findings are coded to R99, ‘Other ill-defined and unspecified causes of mortality’, or X59, ‘Exposure to unspecified factor’.

Deaths for which a cause is still to be determined or confirmed will be updated in the next edition of Fetal and Infant Deaths as the coroners complete their findings.