Vital records (certificates) are filed with and maintained by the NJDOH Office of Vital Statistics and Registry (OVSR). The Center for Health Statistics (CHS), along with OVSR and the National Center for Health Statistics, performs data quality checks on the electronic files of these records. CHS geocodes the residence address data to assign census tract, block, and group and latitude and longitude information as well as to correct invalid residence address information. The data are then analyzed and disseminated by CHS via the methods listed under Accessing Data on the right.
- A live birth is defined as the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, which, after such separation, breathes or shows any evidence of life, such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles.
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- Cause of death coding for all states is performed by the National Center for Health Statistics.
- Infant deaths are deaths within the first year of life and are included in the regular death data file. A separate analytical file of death certificates matched to birth certificates is created to better understand the circumstances of infant deaths, but there is no separate "infant death certificate."
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- Leading causes of death
- A fetal death is a death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception; the fetus shows no signs of life such as breathing or beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles. Fetal deaths are also referred to as stillbirths, miscarriages, or spontaneous abortions.
- Unlike infant deaths, fetal deaths have a unique certificate different from a birth certificate or a death certificate.
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- Licenses and Registration:
The following are not vital events but are often associated with them.
Additional resources:
- Historical NJDOH Health Statistics Reports:
- National Vital Statistics System
- Stats of the States
- USALEEP - census tract level life expectancy estimates