A new NCHS report presents 2013 data on U.S. births according to a wide variety of characteristics. Data are presented for maternal age, live-birth order, race and Hispanic origin, marital status, attendant at birth, method of delivery, period of gestation, birthweight, and plurality. Birth and fertility rates are presented by age, live-birth order, race and Hispanic origin, and marital status. Selected data by mother’s state of residence and birth rates by age and race of father also are shown. Trends in fertility patterns and maternal and infant characteristics are described and interpreted.
Key Findings from the Report:
- A total of 3,932,181 births were registered in the United States in 2013, down less than 1% from 2012.
- The general fertility rate declined to 62.5 per 1,000 women aged 15–44.
- The teen birth rate fell 10%, to 26.5 per 1,000 women aged 15–19.
- Birth rates declined for women in their 20s and increased for most age groups of women aged 30 and over.
- The total fertility rate (estimated number of births over a woman’s lifetime) declined 1% to 1,857.5 per 1,000 women.
- Measures of unmarried childbearing were down in 2013 from 2012.
- The cesarean delivery rate declined to 32.7%.
- The preterm birth rate declined for the seventh straight year to 11.39%, but the low birthweight rate was essentially unchanged at 8.02%.
- The twin birth rate rose 2% to 33.7 per 1,000 births; the triplet and higher-order multiple birth rate dropped 4% to 119.5 per 100,000 total births.
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