This chapter on natality encompasses births to New Jersey residents during the calendar year 1996. The birth certificate is the source document for data included in the analysis. New Jersey law requires that the attending physician, midwife, or person acting as midwife file a certificate of birth with the Local Registrar within five days of a birth within the state. Statistics on births to New Jersey residents which occurred in other states are also included in this report. The inclusion of these data is made possible through the auspices of the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program, which encourages the exchange of information on vital events between the states of occurrence and residence.

The format of the birth certificate was revised and expanded in 1989. One of the major changes was the addition of check-off items regarding a number of medical factors affecting the mother or the infant. Findings from several of these items are included in this chapter. Another change in the birth certificate format was the inclusion of information on Hispanic origin of parents. This presented the opportunity to include detailed information in this report on the characteristics of mothers of Hispanic origin and on their birth outcomes.

The position of items on the revised birth certificate led to considerable confusion between the reporting of a mother's mailing address and her residence address. In 1998, the Center for Health Statistics completed a multi-year project involving the application of address standardization software to convert mailing-label type information so that birth records could be accurately assigned to geographic areas. With the resolution of this problem, it is once again possible to display data for selected municipalities. Additionally, births to residents of military bases and state institutions are now attributed to the municipality and county where the base or institution is located.

In January of 1995, the New Jersey Department of Health began a pilot test of its electronic birth certificate (EBC) in four maternity hospitals in the state. Upon successful completion of this test, the EBC was systematically installed in other New Jersey birthing facilities. Future reports in this series will benefit from the improved quality and timeliness of the data afforded by the EBC, as well as the enhanced array of perinatal data provided through this system.

• Statistical Overview
  
  • Number of Births
    
  • Birth Rate
    
  • Fertility
    
  • Month and Day of Birth
    
  • Sex and Plurality
    
  • Attendant at Birth
    
  • Method of Delivery
    
• Maternal Characteristics
  
  • Age
    
  • Race and Ethnicity
    
  • Marital Status
    
  • Prenatal Care
    
  • Level of Education
    
  • Medical Risk Factors of the Pregnancy
    
  • Complications of Labor and/or Delivery
    
  • Obstetric Procedures
    
• Newborn Health
  
  • Birth Weight
    
  • Apgar Score
    
  • Abnormal Conditions of Newborns
    
  • Congenital Anomalies
    
• Table N3b. Live Births by Method of Delivery and Rates of Cesarean Delivery, Primary Cesarean Delivery and Vaginal Birth After Previous Cesarean Delivery
• Table N5a. Resident Births to Mothers of Hispanic Origin by Age of Mother and Onset of Prenatal Care
• Table N5b. Resident Births to Unmarried Mothers by Age of Mother and Onset of Prenatal Care
• Table N8. Resident Live Births and Live Birth Rates New Jersey and The United States
• Table N9. Resident Live Births and Birth Rates, by County and Selected Municipality
• Table N10. Births by Sex of Child and County and Selected Municipality of Residence of Mother
• Table N11. Resident Births by Age and Race of Mother
• Table N11a. Resident Births by Age and Race Mothers of Hispanic Origin
• Table N12. Number and Percent of Resident Births to Women Under 20 and 35 years and Over
• Table N13. Births by Age and County of Residence of Mother
• Table N14. Births by Race and County and Selected Municipality of Residence of Mohter
• Table N15. Births to Mothers of Hispanic Origin by County and Selected Municipality of Residence
• Table N16. Resident Births to Mothers of Hispanic Origin by Country of Origin
• Table N17. Resident Births by Race and Marital Status of Mother
• Table N18. Resident Births by Marital Status of Mother
• Table N19. Births by Mother's Marital Status and County and Selected Municipality of Residence
• Table N20. Resident Births by Age, Race, and Marital Status of Mother
• Table N21. Births by Onset of Pernatal Care and Mother's County and Selected Municipality of Residence
• Table N22. Medical Risk Factors of This Pregnancy Reported on Certificates of Resident Live Births, by Race of Mother
• Table N22a. Medical Risk Factors of This Pregnancy Reported on Certificates of Resident Live Births, by Mothers of Hispanic Origin
• Table N22b. Medical Rish Factors of This Pregnancy Reported on Certificates of Resident Live Births, by Age of Mother
• Table N23. Complications of Labor and/or Delivery Reported on Certificates of Resident Live Births, by Race of Mother
• Table N24. Obstetric Procedures Performed Reported on Certificates of Resident Live Births by Race of Mother
• Table N25. Resident Births by Birth Weight of Child and Age and Race of Mother
• Table N26. Births by Birth Weight and Mother's County and Selected Municipality of Residence
• Table N27. Resident Births by Birth Weight and Number of Previous Pregnancy Terminations
• Table N28. Resident Births by Birth Weight and Onset of Prenatal Care
• Table N29. Resident Births by Birth Weight of Child, Onset of Prenatal Care, and Race of Mother
• Table 30. Resident Births by Five-minute Apgar Score and Race of Mother
• Table 31. Resident Births by Five-minute Apgar Score and Age of Mother
• Table 32. Resident Births by Five-minute Apgar Score and Onset of Prenatal Care
• Table 33. Abnormal Conditions of Newborn, Reported on Certificates of Resident Live Births, by Race of Mother
• Table 34. Congenital Anomalies of Newborn, Reported on Certificates of Resident Live Births, by Race of Mother
• Table 35. Resident Births by Onset of Prenatal Care and Age and Birthplace of Mother