Infant, maternal, and perinatal mortality statistics in the Republic … · 2017-07-20 · 영아사망, 모성사망, 출생전후기사망 통계 591 Shin HY et al.·Infant, maternal,

HEALTH STATISTICS OF KOREAJ Korean Med Assoc 2017 July; 60(7):588-597

pISSN 1975-8456 / eISSN 2093-5951

https://doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2017.60.7.588

588 대한의사협회지

Introduction

Statistics Korea has published infant, maternal, and

perinatal mortality statistics to increase the exactness

of death statistics and to provide basic data supporting

maternal and child health policies. These data can be

used as basic information for comparative health indices

2014 년도 영아사망, 모성사망, 출생전후기사망통계통계청 인구동향과1*·신 현 영2*·이 지 연1·송 주 화1·이 석 민1·이 정 훈1·임 병 선1·김 혜 란1·허 선3 | 1통계청 인구동향과, 2서남

대학교 의과대학 명지병원 가정의학과, 3한림대학교 의과대학 기생충학교실 및 의학교육연구소

Infant, maternal, and perinatal mortality statistics in the Republic of Korea, 2014Vital Statistics Division, Statistics Korea1* · Hyun-Young Shin, MD2* · Ji-Youn Lee, PhD1 · Juhwa Song, BSc1 · Seokmin Lee, BSc1 · Junghun Lee, BSc1 · Byeongsun Lim, MSc1 · Heyran Kim, BSc1 · Sun Huh, MD3

1Vital Statistics Division, Statistics Korea, Deajeon; 2Department of Family Medicine, Myongji Hospital, Seonam University College of Medicine, Goyang; 3Department of Parasitology and Institute of Medical Education, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Korea

Received: May 20, 2017 Accepted: June 10, 2017

Corresponding author: Sun Huh E-mail: [email protected]

*These two authors contributed equally to this study.

© Korean Medical Association This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

This study aimed to analyze infant, maternal, perinatal, and fetal mortality statistics in the Republic of Korea (Korea),

2014. It was based on the open-access data available from the Statistics Korea website (http://kostat.go.kr/portal/

eng/index.action). Recent trends in these vital statistics were also examined. The results of this study constitute a

descriptive presentation and analysis of the national data. The number of infant deaths was 1,305 out of 435,435

live births in 2014, and the infant mortality rate was 3.0. The number of maternal deaths was 48. The maternal

mortality ratio per 100,000 live births was 11.0. The maternal mortality ratio per 100,000 women of child-bearing

age (15 to 49 years old) was 0.37. The number of perinatal deaths was 1,365, and the perinatal mortality rate was

3.1. The number of fetal deaths was 5,317. The fetal mortality rate was 12.1. The trends in those vital statistics

in recent years were consistent except for a few findings, including a decrease in the maternal mortality ratio of

pregnant women 40 years old and older and a change in the proportions of the causes of infant death, with

a decrease in mortality due to neonatal respiratory distress and an increase in mortality due to bacterial sepsis.

Although these vital statistics were generally consistent, some aspects varied by year. Pregnant women less than

20 years old should be monitored more intensively for their babies’ health. Our findings can serve as basic data

supporting the establishment of health policies by the Korean government.

Key Words: Cause of death; Fetal mortality; Infant mortality; Maternal mortality; Perinatal mortality

영아사망, 모성사망, 출생전후기사망 통계 589

Shin HY et al.·Infant, maternal, fetal, and perinatal mortality statistics

across countries and for research into risk factors for

dangerous deliveries. They were provided through the

Korea Statistical Information Services (http://kosis.kr/

eng/) and the Microdata Integrated Service (https://

mdis.kostat.go.kr/index.do). The purpose of this

article is to summarize these statistical data and to

present current characteristics and trends in the infant,

maternal, fetal, and perinatal mortality rates.

Methods

1. Data collection

Infant, maternal, and perinatal mortality statistics

were produced based on the following data: death

certificates according to Act on the Registration, etc. of

Family Relationships [1]; reports of infant deaths from

crematoriums and fetal death certificates according to the

Act on Funeral Services, etc. [2]; and a supplementary

survey for infant, maternal, and fetal deaths. There

was a possibility of omitting infant death notices;

therefore, reports from crematoriums concerning infant

deaths were added to minimize possible omissions. The

supplementary survey for infant, maternal, and fetal

death was conducted to obtain additional information

such as antenatal care-related variables and the Apgar

score,in addition to the items contained on the death

certificates for infant, maternal, and fetal deaths. The

analysis extended from January 1, 2014 to December 31,

2014.

2. Classification of causes of death

The underlying causes of death described in the death

certificates according to the International Classification

of Diseases (ICD) by the World Health Organization

were first selected [3]. The results were also classified

according to the Korea Classification of Diseases [4].

In order to make an accurate cause of death statistics,

other related data were utilized from the National

Health Insurance Service of Korea, National Cancer

Center of Korea, National Forensic Service of Korea,

Korea National Police Agency, and Korea Centers for

Diseases Control and Prevention. In the statistical

tables, maternal deaths were classified based on general

mortality-condensed list (103 items), while infant,

perinatal, and fetal deaths were classified based on the

Infant and Child Death Summarized Classification (67

items) (Supplementary Table 1).

3. Definition of terms used in this article

•Infant death: A live birth with death occurring

within the first year (365 days)

•Infant mortality rate: The number of infant deaths

within 1 year (365 days) after birth that occur for every

1,000 live births in a given year

•Neonatal death: A live birth that results in death

within 28 days

•Neonatal mortality rate: Number of neonatal deaths

within 28 days after birth that occur for every 1,000 live

births in a given year

•Maternal death: The death of a woman while preg-

nant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy,

irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy,

from any cause related to or aggravated by the

pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental

or incidental causes (http://www.who.int/healthinfo/

statistics/indmaternalmortality/en/)

•Direct obstetric death: Deaths resulting from

obstetric complications of the pregnancy (pregnancy,

labor, and puerperium), from interventions, omissions,

incorrect treatment, or from a chain of events resulting

from any of the above (ICD-10)


J Korean Med Assoc 2017 July; 60(7):588-597

•Indirect obstetric death: Deaths resulting from

previous existing disease or disease that developed

during pregnancy, which were not due to direct obstetric

causes, but which were aggravated by the physiologic

effects of pregnancy

•Maternal mortality ratio: The number of deaths of

women while pregnant or within 42 days of termination

of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of

the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated

by the pregnancy or its management per 100,000 live

births in a given year

•Maternal mortality rate: The number of deaths of

women while pregnant or within 42 days of termination

of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the

pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by

the pregnancy or its management per 100,000 women

of child-bearing years (15 to 49 years old) in a given

year

•Lifetime risk of maternal death: The probability

that a 15-year-old woman will eventually die from

a maternal cause. It is calculated by multiplying the

maternal mortality ratio in a given year by the total

fertility rate of 1.2.

•Total fertility rate:The number of children who

would be born per woman if she were to pass through

the child-bearing years (15 to 49 years old) bearing

children according to the current schedule of age-

specific fertility rates

•Perinatal death: This category includes infant

deaths that occur at less than 7 days of age and fetal

deaths with a stated or presumed period of gestation

of 28 weeks or more. The term is used in this study

in accordance with the definition of the United Nations

and Organization for Economic Cooperation and

Development [5,6]; however, the definition by World

Health Organization according to which perinatal death

occurs at less than 7 days of age and fetal death occurs

with a stated or presumed period of gestation of 22

weeks or more also can be calculated from the present

data [7].

•Perinatal mortality rate: The number of infant

deaths that occur at less than 7 days of age and fetal

deaths with a stated or presumed period of gestation of

28 weeks or more that occur for every 1,000 live births

in a given year

•Fetal death: Deaths before the complete expulsion

or extraction from the mother of a product of human

conception during the duration of pregnancy, that is not

an induced termination of pregnancy (in this article, the

duration of pregnancy is defined as a gestational age of

16 weeks or more)

•Fetal mortality rate: The number of fetal deaths

that occur for every 1,000 live births and fetal deaths

in a given year

Results

1. Infant deaths

The number of infant deaths in 2014 was 1,305 out

of 435,435 live births; therefore, the infant mortality

rate (per 1,000 live births) was 3.0 (Supplementary

Table 1). Figure 1 shows the number of live birth and

the infant mortality rate from 2004 to 2014. There

was a continuous decrease in the infant mortality rate,

from 4.7 in 2004 to 3.0 in 2014. The number of male

infant deaths was 715 and that of female infants was

590. The infant mortality rate of males was 3.2 and

that of females was 2.8. According to age at death, the

number of deaths during the early neonatal period (less

than 7 days) was 468 (35.9%), the number of deaths

during the late neonatal period (between 7 days and



27 days) was 275 (21.1%), and the number of infant

deaths in the post-neonatal period (28 days and over)

was 562 (43.1%) (Supplementary Table 2). According

to gestational age, the number of premature infant

deaths among the preterm infants was 785 (60.2%).

There were 520 deaths (39.8%)

among term infants (37 weeks and

over) (Supplementary Table 3). The

infant mortality rate according to

maternal age was 9.8 for mothers

younger than 20 years old, and

5.9 for mothers 40 years of age

or older (Supplementary Table 4).

According to birth weight, 775 infant

deaths (59.4%) occurred among low-

birth-weight infants (less than 2.5

kg), while 530 (40.6%) took place

among those with a birth weight of

2.5 kg. The infant mortality rates

among low-birth-weight infants

were 31.9, 32.5, and 31.2 in 2012

to 2014. The corresponding rate for

infants with a birth weight of 2.5 kg

or more from 2012 to 2014 was 1.3

in all years (Supplementary Table 5).

The causes of death are classified in

Table 1. The most common causes

of death were respiratory distress

of the newborn (214), congenital

malformations of the heart (100),

bacterial sepsis (87), and sudden

infant death syndrome (80).

2. Maternal deaths

The number of maternal deaths

was 48 in 2014. The maternal

mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births) was 11.0.

The maternal mortality rate (per 100,000 women

of childbearing years [15 to 49 years old]) was 0.37

(Supplementary Table 6). The lifetime risk of maternal

death was 1/6,274. The proportion of maternity

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

No.

of

live

birt

hs

Infa

nt n

orm

alit

y ra

te

Year

No. of live births

Infant mortality rate

Figure 1. Number of live births and infant mortality rate from 2004 to 2014, Republic of Korea

Table 1. Number of infant deaths according to cause of death and the distribution ratio from 2012 to 2014

Cause of death 2012 2013 2014

Total 1,405 1,305 1,305

Certain conditions originating in the perinatal period

758 (54.0) 683 (52.3) 690 (52.9)

Disorders related to length of gestation and

fetal growth

27 (1.9) 31 (2.4) 30 (2.3)

Respiratory distress of newborn

311 (22.1) 213 (16.3) 214 (16.4)

Bacterial sepsis of newborn

66 (4.7) 87 (6.7) 87 (6.7)

Congenital malformations, deformations and

chromosomal abnormalities

274 (19.5) 271 (20.8) 286 (21.9)

Congenital malformations of the heart

100 (7.1) 98 (7.5) 100 (7.7)

Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory

findings, not elsewhere classified

175 (12.5) 176 (13.5) 172 (13.2)

Sudden infant death syndrome

99(7.0) 88 (6.7) 80 (6.1)

Adding a drug of another class 77 (5.5) 61(4.7) 52 (4.0)

Other causes of death 121 (8.6) 114 (8.7) 105 (8.0)

Values are presented as number of infant deaths (%).



among women aged over 35 years old was 21.6% in

2014 (Supplementary Table 6). The average age of

delivery was 32.0 years old. Usually, the maternal

mortality ratio increases as maternal age increases;

however, in 2014, the maternal mortality ratio among

women 40 years of age and older decreased (Figure 2,

Supplementary Table 7).

Maternal deaths according to the death period

were distributed as follows: 5 deaths occurred before

delivery, 31 deaths were postpartum,and 12 were

unknown. Of the postpartum deaths, 14 occurred

from 0 to 1 day postpartum, 9 occurred 2-7 days

postpartum, 1 occurred 8 to 14 days postpartum, and

7 occurred 15 to 42 days postpartum (Supplementary

Table 8). The pregnancies involved in cases of

maternal death resulted in 31 live births, 8 abortions

or fetal deaths, 5 pregnant deaths, and 4 undefined

cases (Supplementary Table 9). The causes of maternal

death are presented in Table 2.

3. Perinatal deaths

The number of perinatal deaths according to

definition I (infant deaths under the age of 7 days and

fetal deaths at 28 weeks of gestation or more) in 2014

was 1,365 and the perinatal mortality rate was 3.1.

The number of perinatal deaths according to definition

II (infant deaths under the age of 7 days and fetal

deaths at 22 weeks of gestation or more) was 2,630,

and the corresponding rate was 6.0 (Supplementary

Table 10). The number of deaths in males was 618,

while 577 deaths occurred in females, and the sex

was unidentified in 170 deaths (Supplementary Table

11). Perinatal deaths according to gestational age are

presented in Figure 3 and Supplementary Table 12.

Perinatal deaths according to maternal age are shown

in Table 3. The high proportion of perinatal deaths

in mothers aged 30 to 34 years old is due tothe high

proportion of deliveries within that age group. The

Table 2. Number of maternal deaths and the distribution ratio according to cause of death in 2014, Republic of Korea

Cause of death 2012 2013 2014

Total 48 (100) 50 (100) 48 (100)

Direct obstetric deaths 31 (64.4) 38 (76.0) 39 (81.3)

Proteinuria and hypertensive disorders in pregnancy

4 (8.3) 2 (4.0) 4 (8.3)

Abnormality of forces of labor, unspecified

2 (4.2) 4 (8.0) 7 (14.6)

Postpartum hemorrhage 4 (8.3) 5 (10.0) 10 (20.8)

Obstetricembolism 14 (29.2) 11 (22.0) 11 (22.9)

Indirect obstetric deaths 17 (35.4) 12 (24.0) 9 (18.8)

Values are presented as material deaths (%).

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

<25 25-29 30-34 35-39 40

Mat

erna

l mor

talit

y ra

tio

Age of pregnant women (yr)

2012

2013

2014

Figure 2. Maternal mortality ratio by maternal age from 2012 to 2014, Repub-lic of Korea.

Less Than 28 weeks (16%)

28-31 Weeks (27%)

32-36 Weeks (28%)

37 Weeks and more (29%)

Figure 3. Perinatal deaths according to gestational age in 2014, Republic of Korea.



perinatal mortality rate according

to birth weight from 2012 to

2014 is presented in Figure 4

and Supplementary Table 13.

Perinatal deaths by cause of death

from 2012 to 2014 are presented

in Supplementary Table 14. Peri-

natal deathsby cause of death and

gestational age are presented in

Table 4.

4. Fetal deaths

The number of fetal deaths (after the gestational age

of 16 weeks) was 5,317, that after the gestational age

of 22 weeks was 2,162, and that after 28 weeks was

897. The fetal mortality rate (per 1,000 live births) was

12.1; that after the gestational age of 22 weeks was

4.9; and that after 28 weeks was 2.1 (Supplementary

Table 15). Of the 5,317 deaths, 1,928 were in males and

1,506 were in females, while the sex was unknown sex

in 1,983 deaths (Supplementary

Table 16). According to gestational

age, 3,155 deaths occurred from

16 to 21 weeks, 1,265 from 22 to

27 weeks, and 897 at 28 weeks

and more (Supplementary Table

17). Fetal deaths according to

maternal age are presented in

Figure 5. The largest proportion

was found among mothers aged

between 30 and 34 years old

because this group accounted

for the most deliveries. The fetal

mortality rate was the highest

among mothers younger than

20 (Supplementary Table 18).

Table 3. Perinatal deaths and perinatal mortality rate according to maternal age

Maternal age (yr)Perinatal deaths Perinatal mortality rate

2012 2013 2014 2012 2013 2014

Total 1,521 1,429 1,365 3.1 3.3 3.1

<20 33 37 30 4.1 12.9 11.7

20-24 106 91 85 2.7 4.1 4.0

25-29 340 274 247 2.8 2.7 2.6

30-34 669 624 603 4.2 2.8 2.7

35-39 281 327 312 3.6 4.2 3.8

≥40 91 74 86 7.8 6.7 7.2

Unknown 1 2 2 - - -

0

50

100

150

200

250

<1.5 1.5 - 2.0 2.0 -2.5 > 2.5

Peri

nata

l mor

talit

y ra

te

Birth weight (kg)

Figure 4. Perinatal mortality rate according to birth weight in 2014, Republic of Korea.

Table 4. Number of perinatal deaths according to cause of death and gestational period

Cause of deathTotal

Fetal deaths after gestational age 28

weeks

Deaths from birth to less than 7 days

postpartum

No. of deaths

Distribution ratio (%)

No. of deaths


No. of deaths


Total 1,365 100.0 897 100.0 468 100.0

Certain conditions originating in the

perinatal period

1,185 86.8 837 93.3 348 74.4

Respiratory distress of

newborn

145 10.6 0 0.0 145 31.0

Fetal death of unspecified

cause

794 58.2 794 88.5 0 0.0

Congenital malformations,

deformations and chromosomal abnormalities

134 9.8 59 6.5 75 16.0

Congenital malformations

of the heart

27 2.0 12 1.3 15 3.2

Other causes of death

46 3.4 1 0.1 45 9.6



According to birth weight, 3,501 deaths occurred in

fetus with a birth weight below 1.5 kg, 127 in fetuses

with a birth weight from 1.5 to 2.0 kg, 112 in fetuses

with a birth weight from 2.0 to 2.5 kg, 249 in fetuses

with a birth weight of 2.5 kg or more, and the weight of

1,328 fetuses was not identified (Supplementary Table

19). The causes of fetal death are presented in Table 5.

The most common cause was “condition originating in

the perinatal period, unspecified.” Recent trends in the

causes of fetal death are presented in Supplementary

Table 20.

Discussion

1. Infant deaths

The infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births),which

was 3.0, was the same as the rate in 2013 (3.0) and

similar to that in 2012 (2.9). The infant mortality rate

has continu-ously decreased from 4.7 in 2004 to 3.0

in 2014 (Figure 1). Regarding the

causes of death, respiratory distress

decreased from 22.1% in 2012 to

16.4% in 2014, while bac-terial

sepsis increased from 4.7% to 6.7%.

Sudden infant death syndrome

decreased from 7.0% to 6.1% (Table

1). The decrease in the absolute

number of infant deaths and the

change in the proportions of the

causes of death indicate that care for

respiratory distress for infants has

improved dramatically in hospitals.

The increase of bacterial sepsis as

a cause of death corresponds to an

increase in the immunocompromised

status of the infants who suffered from infections.

It may still be difficult to treat infantile sepsis with

favorable results. Although there was a higher infant

mortality rate in mothers on each end of the age range,

with a rate of 9.8 in mothers younger than 20 years old

and 5.9 in those 40 and older, the contributions of these

groups to overall infant mortality, 1.9% and 5.4%, were

still low. The 24 times higher mortality rate in low-

birth-weight babies in comparison to those weighing

Table 5. Fetal mortality rate according to maternal age in 2014, Republic of Korea.

Cause of deathNo. of infant deaths (%)

Total 16-21 wk 22-27 wk ≥28 wk

Total 5,317 (100) 3,155 (100) 1,265 (100) 897 (100)

Certain conditions originating in the

perinatal period

4,782 (89.9) 2,810 (89.1) 1,135 (89.7) 837 (93.3)

Fetal death of unspecified cause

4,534 (85.3) 2,651 (84.0) 1.089 (86.1) 794 (88.5)

Congenital malformations, deformations and

chromosomal abnormalities

528 (9.9) 341 (10.8) 128 (10.1) 59 (6.6)

Congenital malformations of

the heart

53 (1.0) 13 (0.4) 28 (2.2) 12 (1.3)

Chromosomal abnormalities, not

elsewhere classified including Down syndrome

183 (3 .4) 151 (4.8) 19 (1.5) 13 (1.4)

Other causes of death 7 (0.1) 4 (0.1) 2 (0.2) 1 (01.)

Values are presented as number of infant deaths (%).

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

<20 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40

Feta

mor

talit

y ra

te

Maternal age (yr)

Figure 5. Fetal mortality rate according to maternal age in 2014, Republic of Korea.



2.5 kg or more shows that low birth weight was the

most important risk factor for infant death.

2. Maternal deaths

In contrast to the higher infant mortality in mothers

younger than 25 years old, the maternal mortality ratio

of the same age group was low, at 4 out of 100,000 live

births (Figure 2). It increased continuously according to

age in 2012 and 2013; however, there was a decrease

in the maternal mortality ratio among the age group of

40 or older, to 18.1 in 2014 from 54.4 in 2013. This is

difficult to explain, but may be the result of the good

obstetrical care provided to mothers in that age group

or the result of the small number of maternal deaths,

with 48 deaths recorded in 2014. Obstetrical embolism

(11) and postpartum hemorrhage (10) were the most

common causes of maternal death. The pre-term

monitoring of risk for embolism and hemorrhage should

be enforced to prevent maternal deaths.

3. Perinatal deaths

The perinatal mortality rate was 3.1 in 2012, 3.3

in 2013, and 3.1 in 2014 (Table 3). The perinatal

mortality rate was highest in mothers younger than 20

(Table 3). This phenomenon was the same as observed

for the infant mortality rate. The perinatal mortality

rate of babies less than 1.5 kg was 194.5 in 2014;

while that of babies weighing 2.5 kg and more was

0.9. Therefore, birth weight is the most important risk

factor for perinatal mortality (Figure 4). Respiratory

distress of the newborn and congenital malformation

of the heart were the major causes of death (Table

4). Regarding risk factorsfor perinatal mortality, fetal

growth restriction is known to be a major cause of

increased perinatal mortality in post-term pregnancies

in Korea,as those with a birth weight percentile less

than 10% showed increased perinatal mortality rates at

42 weeks of gestation [8]. In a tertiaryreferral hospital

from 2005 to 2013, fetal hydrops cases occurred in 24.

4 per 10,000 deliveries, and the perinatal mortality of

these cases was 26 out of 42 cases (62.9%) [9]. These

are cases in which a congenital malformation caused

perinatal death.

4. Fetal deaths

The fetal mortality rate during the gestational age

range of 16 to 21 weeks was 991.8; while the rate

for the gestational age range of 28 weeks and more

was 2.1 (Figure 5). The cause of death of a “condition

originating in the perinatal period, unspecified”

accounted for the largest proportion (85.3%). “Downʼs

syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities”

were the next important cause of death (3.4%). The

strength and importance of the above data lie in the

fact that this is one of the most comprehensive and

accurate datasets on infant, maternal, and perinatal

mortality statistics in the world. The staff of Statistics

Korea not only referred to death registration data

and the reports of crematoriums of infant and fetal

deaths, but also utilized as upplementary survey for

infant, maternal and fetal deaths.Therefore, the data

presented in this study can be used to help prevent

infant and maternal deaths based on accurate

information. Preventing infant and maternal deaths

is not easy, although Korea has an excellent medical

health system as the maternal age becomes older.

More intensive antepartum pregnancy care with

appropriate screening for risk factors will reduce

maternal and infant deaths. Additionally, pregnant

women younger than 20 years old should receivemore

intensive care to prevent fetal deaths. In the United

States of America, the fetal mortality rate in 2013 in



unmarried women was found to be 1.5 times higher

than the rate in married women [10]. It is possible

to analyze marriage status through the Microdata

Integrated Service. In Korea, the same phenomenon

for unmarried women is expected. The fetal death

rate in women younger than 20 years old was 82.4.

A number of fetal deaths among mothers in this

age group are believed to be due to the improper

pregnancy carereceived by unmarried women. This

proposal should be verified through further analysis.

Conclusion

The infant, perinatal, maternal, and fetal death

rates have been consistent in recent years in Korea.

The maternal mortality ratio of pregnant women 40

years of age and older in 2014 decreased dramatically

from that observed in 2013; however, this may simply

reflect the small number of deaths (48). Therefore,

continuous follow-up should be conducted. To prevent

fetal deaths in women younger than 20 years old,

specific prevention strategies should be considered.

Acknowledgement

Data collection and the analysis of the raw data were

done as a part of budget of the Korean government.

Supplementary Materials

Supplementary materials are available from Harvard

Dataverse (https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/BYTHNK).

Supplementary Table 1. Infant deaths, infant mortality

rates, and trends in live births, 2012 to 2014, Republic

of Korea

Supplementary Table 2. Infant deaths, percentages, and

infant mortality rates by sex and duration of life, 2012

to 2014, Republic of Korea


infant mortality rates by gestation period, 2012 to

2014, Republic of Korea


infant mortality rates by maternal age, 2012 to 2014,

Republic of Korea


infant mortality rates by birth weight, 2012 to 2014,

Republic of Korea

Supplementary Table 6. Maternal deaths, maternal

mortality ratio, maternal mortality rate, lifetime risk of

maternal deaths, and the number of live births, 2012

to 2014, Republic of Korea

Supplementary Table 7. Maternal deaths, maternal

mortality ratio, and percentage by age, mean values

for the period of 2012 to 2014, Republic of Korea

Supplementary Table 8. Maternal deaths and per-

centages by death period, 2012 to 2014, Republic of

Korea

Supplementary Table 9. Maternal deaths and per-

centages by pregnancy outcomes, 2012 to 2014,

Republic of Korea

Supplementary Table 10. Perinatal deaths and mortality

rate, 2012 to 2014, Republic of Korea

Supplementary Table 11. Perinatal deaths, percentage,

and mortality rate by sex, 2012 to 2014, Republic of

Korea

Supplementary Table 12. Perinatal deaths, component

ratio, and mortality rate by gestation period, 2012 to


Supplementary Table 13. Perinatal deaths and percent-

age by birth weight, 2012 to 2014, Republic of Korea



Supplementary Table 14. Perinatal deaths and percent-

ages by main category of causes of death, 2012 to


Supplementary Table 15. Fetal deaths, fetal mortality

rate, and trend of the number of total births, 2012 to


Supplementary Table 16. Fetal deaths and percentages by

sex, 2012 to 2014, Republic of Korea


gestational age, 2012 to 2014, Republic of Korea


maternal age, 2012 to 2014, Republic of Korea


birth weight, 2012 to 2014, Republic of Korea


death cause, 2012 to 2014, Republic of Korea

찾아보기말: 사망원인; 태아사망; 영아사망; 모성사망; 주산기

사망

ORCIDHyun-Young Shin, http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7261-3365

Ji-Youn Lee, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5718-060X

Juhwa Song, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6218-5026

Seokmin Lee, http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6642-2677

Junghun Lee, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2625-0775

Byeongsun Lim, http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5900-5517

Heyran Kim, http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9609-4766

Sun Huh, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8559-8640

REFERENCES 1. Act on the Registration, etc. of Family Relationship. No. 14169

(May 29, 2016). 2. Act on Funeral Services, etc. No. 11998 (Aug 6, 2013). 3. World Health Organization. International statistical classification

of diseases and related health problems 10th revision [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2016 [cited 2016 Feb 9]. Available from: http://apps.who.int/classifications/icd10/browse/2016/en.

4. Statistics Korea. Korean standard classification of diseases and causes of death (KCD-6) [Internet]. Daejeon: Statistics Korea; 2011 [cited 2016 Mar 9]. Available from: http://kostat.go.kr/portal/eng/index.action.

5. Barfield WD. Standard terminology for fetal, infant, and peri-natal deaths. AM Acad Pediatr 2011;128:177-181.

6. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Perinatal mortality [Internet]. Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; 2007 [cited 2017 Apr 11]. Avail-able from: https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=2038.

7. World Health Organization. Neonatal and perinatal mortality: country, regional and global estimates [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2006 [cited 2017 Apr 11]. Avail-able from: http://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/43444.

8. Seo K, Won HJ, Cho JS, Park YW, Kim SK, Lee K. Fetal growth restriction was a major cause of increased perinatal mortalities of postterm pregnancies. Korean J ObstetGynecol 2003;46:2033-2038.

9. Yeom W, Paik ES, An JJ, Oh SY, Choi SJ, Roh CR, Kim JH. Clinical characteristics and perinatal outcome of fetal hydrops. Obstet Gynecol Sci 2015;58:90-97.

10. MacDorman MF, Gregory EC. Fetal and perinatal mortality: United States, 2013. Natl Vital Stat Rep 2015;64:1-24.

Peer Reviewers’ Commentary

Death statistics are the most basic statistical information, which is important in determining health status and has a very important impact on health policy formulation. I am very fortunate to have the statistics for the newborn, maternity and perinatal deaths since the 2014 general mortality statistics were published in the March 2016 issue. According to the paper, the maternal and infant-related mortality statistics for 2014 are very good and can be confirmed to be improving continuously. I would like to be able to take a look at the statistics related to death in Korea in a multifaceted way after similar analysis is done in the future.

[Editorial comment]

Documents

Infant, maternal, and perinatal mortality statistics in the Republic … · 2017-07-20 · 영아사망, 모성사망, 출생전후기사망 통계 591 Shin HY et al.·Infant, maternal,