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Infant deaths are defined as deaths of children under one year of age.
Information from the Washington State Birth and Death Certificate Systems
is combined to produce records of all infant deaths occurring in the state
and nearly all infant deaths to residents of the state.
Information is gathered about the mother, the father, the pregnancy, the
child, and the cause-of-death. Information about the birth is collected
in hospitals and birth centers; information about the death is collected by
funeral directors from an informant (usually a family member). Cause-of-death
information is provided by a certifying physician, medical examiner, or coroner.
The major purpose of the infant death file is to provide combined information
about the birth and death that can be used by data analysts, policy makers,
health care providers and others to help prevent furure infant deaths.
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