Baltimore City Youth Data Scorecard

What is the infant mortality rate (IMR)?

Infant mortality is the death of an infant before their first birthday. The infant mortality rate is the number of infant deaths for every 1,000 live births.

How is the infant mortality rate calculated?

For each year, the infant mortality rate is calculated using the following formula:

(Number of residents ÷ Number of resident live births) x 1,000

How are we doing on this measure?

B’More for Healthy Babies, an initiative led by the Baltimore City Health Department with support from Family League and HealthCare Access Maryland, launched in 2009 and aimed to decrease infant mortality rates in the city, which at the time were one of the highest in the country. The change in infant mortality rates over the past decade speaks to the impactful work done by B’more for Healthy Babies and other city partners. In 2009, 13.5 infants died before their first birthday for every 1,000 live births. This figure has decreased to 8.8 deaths in 2019, a 35% decrease in 10 years.

However, more recent data from the Maryland Department of Health has shown that infant mortality rates increased significantly in Baltimore in 2020, and that this increase was largely experienced by infants of Black (Non-Hispanic) and Hispanic mothers. Specifically, infant mortality rates in Baltimore City increased from 8.8 deaths for every 1,000 live births in 2019, to 10.3 deaths in 2020 (representing a 17% increase). Infant mortality rates of infants born from White (Non-Hispanic) mothers decreased from 2019 to 2020 (4.4 to 4.1) and increased for infants born from Black (Non-Hispanic) mothers (11.4 to 14.0) and Hispanic mothers (6.3 to 7.2). The infant mortality rate for infants born from Black (Non-Hispanic) mothers in Baltimore is as high as it has been since 2011.

While the figures for infant mortality rate are not all the way back to levels seen in 2009, the recent data suggests that the context and experiences around the pandemic has exacerbated racial gaps in outcomes for Black mothers and their babies, and more targeted interventions are needed to ensure Baltimore’s newest generation can thrive.

Data Source

Maryland Vital Statistics Annual Report, Maryland Department of Health

What is low birth weight?

An infant’s birth weight is considered “low” if the baby weighs fewer than 5.5 pounds (2,500 grams) at birth. Low birth weight may result from pre-term birth or restricted growth during a pregnancy.

How is low birth weight calculated?

For each year, the percentage of low birth weight babies is calculated using the following formula:

(Number of babies born weighing less than 5.5 pounds ÷ Number of live births) x 100

How are we doing on this measure?

Low birth weight numbers have shown improvement from 2019 despite the onset of the pandemic. Specifically, low-birth weight rates declined in Baltimore City, as has the gap between low birth weights for Black (Non-Hispanic) mothers and White (Non-Hispanic) mothers (the gap was 8.2% in 2019, and 7.6% in 2020 — the lowest gap seen since 2015).

Data Source

Maryland Vital Statistics Annual Report, Maryland Department of Health

What is Early Prenatal Care and Late or No Prenatal Care?

Prenatal care is healthcare that supports and monitors the health of pregnant women and their babies throughout pregnancy. Early prenatal care is care that starts in the first trimester of pregnancy. Late or no prenatal care refers to births of babies to mothers who began receiving prenatal care services in the last trimester of pregnancy or did not receive these services at all.

How is Early Prenatal Care and Late or No Prenatal Care calculated?

At the time of birth, mothers are asked if they received prenatal care services, and if so, when they first began using these services. The graph shows the annual percentage of mothers who responded that they began receiving prenatal care in either the first trimester (early prenatal care) or in the last trimester or not at all (late or no prenatal care).

How are we doing on this measure?

Early post-pandemic data on prenatal care is encouraging. More Baltimore City expecting mothers are receiving early prenatal care, and the percentage of expecting mothers receiving late or no prenatal care is at its lowest level in over five years.

Data Source
Maryland Vital Statistics Annual Report, Maryland Department of Health

What is the teen birth rate?

The teen birth rate is the number of babies born to adolescent mothers aged 15-19 for every 1,000 girls and women in that age range living in Baltimore City or the state of Maryland.

How is teen birth rate calculated?

The teen birth rate is calculated using the following formula:

(Number of babies born to mothers aged 15-19 ÷ Number of Female adolescents aged 15-19 in the city or state) x 1,000

How are we doing on this measure?

Teen birth rates increased slightly in Baltimore City between 2019 and 2020, despite decreasing across the entire state of Maryland during the same time period. The increase in teen birth rates in Baltimore City was not experienced by White (Non-Hispanic) teens, who experienced a 13% decline in teen births between 2019 and 2020. Black (Non-Hispanic) and Hispanic teens both experienced increases in their teen birth rates by 5% and 3%, respectively. Across all of these racial and ethnic groups, teen birth rates are well below levels seen in 2015.

Data Source
Maryland Vital Statistics Annual Report, Maryland Department of Health

What is the maternal mortality rate?

The annual maternal mortality rate is the number of maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births within a year.

Maryland uses the World Health Organization’s definition of maternal mortality: the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days at the end of pregnancy, regardless of the length of the pregnancy, from any cause related to the pregnancy, and not including accidental causes.

How is the maternal mortality rate calculated?

The Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) is the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in the same time period.

How are we doing on this measure?

Maternal Mortality rates in Maryland have decreased for all mothers, Black (Non-Hispanic) mothers, and White (Non-Hispanic) mothers between the 2009-2013 time period and 2014-2018 time period (data comes from five-year estimates of the American Community Survey from the US Census Bureau).

Yet the gap between the maternal mortality rates between Black (Non-Hispanic) and White (Non-Hispanic) mothers is striking and has increased over time. In the 2014-2018 time period, there were 35.1 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births for Black (Non-Hispanic) mothers, compared to 8.8 maternal deaths for White (Non-Hispanic) mothers.

Data Source

Maryland Maternal Mortality Review Program, Maryland Department of Health