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Live births in NMI drop 5 percent in ’13
The number of infants who were born alive upon delivery at the Commonwealth Health Center registered a 4.7-percent decline in 2013, based on the Public School System Head Start Program community assessment report for school year 2013-2014.
Citing the “Live Birth” report obtained from the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. as of February 2014, the PSS report covered the trend in the last four years.
Records disclosed that in 2010, live births in the CNMI totaled 1,077. A decline was noted in the following year, 2011, when live births went down to 1,033. This went up again in 2012, when the count for the whole year totaled 1,106—the biggest recorded in the four-year period—and then plunged to 1,054 in 2013, which translates to a 4.7 percent decline from 2012.
“As per the Live Birth report from the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., Maternal and Child Health Bureau, 2012 was the largest population of live births in years 2010 through 2013 with an increase of 7 percent seen from the previous year. In 2013, live births decreased 4.7 percent from the previous year,” states the report, which was recently adopted by the Board of Education.
The Head Start program is a federally funded program that provides comprehensive services to income eligible children and families. It has a funded enrollment of 462 every year.
The program’s 2013-2014 community assessment provides updated demographic data, relevant community information to identify the strengths, needs and trends that impact on the design and implementation of the Head Start and Early Head Start programs.
Among the specific questions addressed during the assessment process include: how many low-income, Head Start eligible children/families reside in the service area from birth to age 5. It also addresses the question about changes in the low-income population or demographics in the Head Start service area, and the community trends affecting families since the last community assessment, among others.
