The overall fertility rate for American Indian/Alaska Native women (calculated as live births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44 years) has not changed significantly from 76 in 1990 to 60 in 2005. Similarly, the fertility rates of the general population did not change significantly over the same time period (71 in 1990 to 67 in 2005). Persons of Hispanic ethnicity are included in the race categories in this indicator except where noted.
While the general fertility rate of American Indian/ Alaska Native women was lower in 2005 than that for women overall, birth rates for young women (ages 15 to 24 years) were higher for American Indians/Alaska Natives than for all young women. In that year, there were 53 live births for every 1,000 American Indian/Alaska Native women ages 15 to 19 years old, compared to 41 for every 1,000 women ages 15 to 19 years old in the general population. For 20- to 24-year-olds, the rate was 109 per 1,000 American Indian/Alaska Native women, and 102 per 1,000 women overall. For both age groups, however, the birth rates for American Indians/Alaska Natives were lower than those for Blacks (62 live births per 1,000 women 15 to 19 years old, and 130 per 1,000 women 20 to 24 years old) and Hispanics (82 live births per 1,000 women 15 to 19 years old, and 170 per 1,000 women 20 to 24 years old).
Infant mortality rates (the number of deaths per 1,000 live births) declined for all racial and ethnic groups between 1984 and 2004, the most recent year for which data were available. Nonetheless, babies born to American Indian/Alaska Native mothers have relatively high infant mortality rates. In 2004, the infant mortality rate for American Indians/ Alaska Natives was 9 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, which was higher than the rates for Whites (non-Hispanic), Hispanics, and Asians/Pacific Islanders (6, 6, and 5 deaths per 1,000 live births, respectively), but lower than the rate for Blacks (non- Hispanic) (14 deaths per 1,000 live births).
In 2005, the mortality rates for American Indian/ Alaska Native children and adolescents, including those of Hispanic ethnicity, between the ages of 1 and 19, were higher than the mortality rates for children in the general population. The differences were most pronounced with young children ages 1 to 4 and with adolescents ages 15 to 19. Mortality rates for American Indian/Alaska Native children ages 1 to 4 were 59 deaths per 100,000 young children, compared to 29 deaths per 100,000 young children in the total population. Similarly, mortality rates among American Indian/Alaska Native adolescents (15 to 19 years old) were 94 deaths per 100,000 adolescents, while those for the general population were 65 deaths per 100,000 adolescents.
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