Predictors of multiple births and infant deaths in Alberta

Modifiable factors which affect risk of infant death include birth to mothers under the age of 20 years (linked to higher rates of infant death), and prenatal care (visits with physicians and midwives and attendance at prenatal classes), which is linked to reduction in the odds of infant death. [...] This is the major contribution of the current study: the database contains maternal and infant indicators for thousands of multiple births and infant deaths. [...] Odds ratios are the ratio of the odds of the occurrence of something in one group, to the odds of the same occurrence in another group. [...] For example, the odds of multiple birth in mothers over 35 years of age might be twice as high as the odds of multiple birth in mothers between 20 and 34, for an odds ratio of 2.0. [...] The adjusted odds ratio for a given indicator can be interpreted as the contribution of that variable to the birth outcome of interest, after the contributions of all of the other variables are accounted for.