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
Total102,404  9,418  92.071,519  5,811  81.323,101  2,482  107.47,784  1,125  144.5
White74,744  5,675  75.953,940  3,646  67.615,872  1,423  89.74,932  606  122.9
Black18,880  2,942  155.811,726  1,677  143.05,076  853  168.02,078  412  198.3
American Indian1,015  98  96.6638  46  72.1284  31  109.293  21  225.8
Asian & Pacific Islander4,359  436  100.03,181  300  94.3925  107  115.7253  29  114.6
Hispanic7,114  568  79.84,480  299  66.71,865  157  84.2769  112  145.6
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