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Birth Data

Information on Births in Washington State

The Washington State Birth Certificate System has information about each baby born in Washington State. Similar information is collected for mothers who live in Washington but have a baby in another state or country. Thus, the Birth Certificate System contains records on all births occurring in the state and nearly all births to residents of the state.

Information is gathered about the mother, the father, the pregnancy, and the child. The information is collected in hospitals and birth centers from worksheets completed by parents or medical staff, from medical charts, or by a combination of these sources. Midwives and family members who deliver a baby complete the birth certificate and collect the information from a parent or from their records.

The major purposes of the birth system are

1.  to provide a birth record for purposes such as establishing US citizenship or school entry; and
2. to record information such as pregnancy history, parents education, prenatal care, and birth weight which can be used by data analysts, policy makers, health care providers and others to help improve the health of mothers and children.