The number of fetal deaths from the 28th week of pregnancy plus the number of deaths in the first week after birth per 100,000 live births.
Death (mortality) during the late prenatal period (variously defined, conventionally occurring after the 28th week of gestation or with a fetus weighing over 1,000 grams, including stillbirths), birth process and the early neonatal period, and usually measured as a rate: number of perinatal deaths per 1,000 live births in a given area or program and time period.
Perinatal mortality consists of deaths of the fetus or newborn from the 28th week of pregnancy to the end of the first week of life. Today, more individuals die within a few hours of birth than during the following 40 years. It is therefore not surprising that the perinatal mortality rate, which is the number of such deaths per 1,000 total births, is a valuable indicator of the quality of care provided for the mother and her newborn baby. In 2006, the perinatal mortality rate was 8.0 in the United Kingdom compared with 11.94 in 1981 and more than 30 in the early 1960s.
The number of fetal deaths plus the number of deaths of infants younger than 7 days of age per 1000 live births per year.