Race & Ancestry of MotherKessner Index
TotalAdequateIntermediateInadequate
Live BirthsLow BirthweightRateLive BirthsLow BirthweightRateLive BirthsLow BirthweightRateLive BirthsLow BirthweightRate
Number of Low Birthweight Live Births and Rate of Low Birthweight Live Births by Race & Ancestry of Mother
and Kessner Index
Michigan 2022
Total100,880  9,242  91.670,495  5,713  81.022,791  2,441  107.17,594  1,088  143.3
White73,380  5,536  75.452,973  3,563  67.315,604  1,388  89.04,803  585  121.8
Black18,798  2,918  155.211,695  1,666  142.55,053  848  167.82,050  404  197.1
American Indian1,008  97  96.2636  46  72.3280  31  110.792  20  217.4
Asian & Pacific Islander4,343  433  99.73,174  298  93.9919  107  116.4250  28  112.0
Hispanic7,030  560  79.74,428  298  67.31,845  153  82.9757  109  144.0
Mid Easterner4,571  326  71.33,386  226  66.7813  66  81.2372  34  91.4
             

Notes:

Rates are per 1,000 live births.


Kessner Index: The Kessner Index is a classification of prenatal care based on the month of pregnancy in which prenatal care began, the number of prenatal visits and the length of pregnancy (i.e. for shorter pregnancies, fewer prenatal visits constitute adequate care.)

Kessner Index Measurement Definitions:

Adequate: Care that began within the first trimester and included an average of at least one or two additional prenatal visits per month of gestation, depending on the length of gestation.

Intermediate: Care that began during the second trimester of pregnancy with correspondingly fewer visits, or began during the first trimester but with fewer visits than would be appropriate for the length of gestation.

Inadequate: When no care was received or if care began during the third trimester. It is also inadequate if care began during the first or second trimester but less than five visits occurred, when the length of gestation was 34 weeks or more. When the length of gestation was less than 34 weeks, care is defined as inadequate when care began during the first or second trimester but a number of visits less that four occurred, that number depending on the actual weeks of gestation.

Records with unknown level of prenatal care are included only in the total row.


Low Birthweight
Live births weighing less than 2,500 grams.

Source: 2022 Geocoded Michigan Birth Certificate Registry.
Division for Vital Records & Health Statistics, Michigan Department of Health & Human Services