About Linked Birth / Infant Death Records, 1999-2002

This data collection provides counts and rates for deaths of children under 1 year of age, occurring within the United States to U.S. residents. Information from death certificates has been linked to corresponding birth certificates. Data are available by county of mother's residence, child's age, underlying cause of death, gender, birth weight, birth plurality, birth order, gestational age at birth, period of prenatal care, maternal race and ethnicity, maternal age, maternal education and marital status. Underlying causes of death for the years 1999-2002 are coded with the International Classification of Diseases, revision 10. The data are produced by the National Center for Health Statistics.

Data Use Restrictions:

The Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 242m(d)) provides that the data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) may be used only for the purpose for which they were obtained; any effort to determine the identity of any reported cases, or to use the information for any purpose other than for health statistical reporting and analysis, is against the law. Therefore users will:

• Use these data for health statistical reporting and analysis only.
• Do not present or publish birth or death counts of 9 or fewer or birth or death rates based on counts of nine or fewer (in figures, graphs, maps, tables, etc.).
• Make no attempt to learn the identity of any person or establishment included in these data.
• Make no disclosure or other use of the identity of any person or establishment discovered inadvertently and advise the NCHS Confidentiality Officer of any such discovery.

Sanctions for Violating Rules:

Researchers who violate the terms of the data use restrictions will lose access to WONDER and their sponsors and institutions will be notified. Researchers who are suspected of violating the rules may be prevented from using WONDER until an investigation can be completed. Deliberately making a false statement in any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the Federal government violates 18 USC 1001 and is punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 or up to 5 years in prison, or both.