Admission Rates of Neonatal Intensive Care Units in the United States

Pediatric audiology case-history questionnaires often ask about birth history and time spent in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). As such, audiologists who routinely see children may be interested in recently-published data on NICU admission rate trends.

Martin and Osterman (2025) used the natality data file from the National Vital Statistics System to evaluate NICU admission rates from 2016 to 2023. This data file includes information on all births, as well as a range of demographic and health information on both the infants and the mothers.

These authors reported an increase in NICU admissions from 8.7 percent in 2016 to 9.8 percent in 2023. In 2023, the states with the highest reported NICU admission rates were Utah (12.4 percent), New Jersey (12.7 percent), and Delaware (14.2 percent). The states with the largest percentage increase compared to 2016 were Arkansas (31 percent), Alabama (32 percent), New Hampshire (34 percent), and Mississippi (37 percent).

NICU admission rates varied significantly based on maternal age, maternal race and Hispanic origin, gestational age, and birthweight. Despite differences, NICU admission rates increased for all of these categories in 2023 compared to 2016.

Reference

Martin, J.A., & Osterman, M.J.K. (2025 Mar). Increases in neonatal intensive care admissions in the United States, 2016–2023. NCHS Data Brief,525.