The Jerusalem perinatal study: the first decade 1964--73

This paper summarizes the main findings concerning Jewish births in the record-linked Jerusalem Perinatal Study. In the decade 1964--73 there were 63,638 births in which the birth weight was at least 1,000 g. The late fetal mortality rate was 9.1/1,000, and the neonatal and infant death rates were 10.1 and 15.5/1,000, respectively. The demographic characteristics of births changed over the decade, with a decrease in the proportion of high birth orders, of mothers with little education, of immigrants from Asia and North Africa, and of marriages within the same group of origin. Fertility fell, especially at the extremes of reproductive life. Illegitimacy was 1.2%. Year-by-year variations in mortality are discussed and the relationship of mortality to maternal age and education, birth order, social class, group of origin and birth weight are described. Frequencies of specific congenital malformations, infant and child admissions to hospital and various obstetric complications are also reported. Changes in obstetric interventions over the decade included an increasing proportion of induced labors, cesarean sections, forceps and vacuum deliveries, and interventions in the third stage of labor. The paper briefly indicates ways in which the data bank of the Jerusalem Perinatal Study is being exploited for a wide variety of health studies.