Texas residents had more babies in 2003 (377,374) than in any other year since births were first recorded in Texas in 1903. The crude birth rate of 17.1 births per 1,000 population is the same as it was in 2002.

The percentage of women receiving prenatal care in the first trimester was 81.3, up from 80.5 in 2002. In 2003, 99.3 percent of Texas resident births were delivered in a hospital. Physicians delivered 94.5 percent of infants born to Texas residents. The proportion of C-section deliveries increased from 28.4 percent in 2002 to 30.7 percent in 2003.

Overall life expectancy for an infant born in Texas in 2003 was 77.2 years. A male infant born in 2003 could expect to live 74.5 years while a female infant could expect to live 79.8 years. Female infants had a higher life expectancy than male infants regardless of racial/ethnic group.

The number of deaths to Texas residents in 2003 was 154,501. This was a 0.5 percent decrease in total deaths over 2002, when there were 155,336. The 2003 crude death rate decreased to 7.0 deaths per 1,000 estimated population. The natural increase of the Texas population, the excess of resident births over resident deaths, was 222,873.

Starting with 1999 deaths, the Bureau of Vital Statistics implemented the Tenth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). This change in the classification of causes of death explains the presence of new leading causes (like Alzheimer's disease) and may partially explain changes in other causes of death.

Heart disease claimed 41,654 lives and continued to be the leading cause of death, followed by cancer with 33,782 deaths. Cerebrovascular diseases ranked third with 10,286 deaths, and accidents ranked fourth with 8,341 deaths. The fifth leading cause of death was chronic lower respiratory diseases (formerly known as COPD), which accounted for 7,548 deaths. These five leading causes were responsible for 65.8 percent of Texas resident deaths in 2003.

Completing the ten leading causes of death were: diabetes mellitus, 5,663 deaths; Alzheimer's disease, 4,012 deaths; influenza and pneumonia, 3,603 deaths; nephritis and related diseases, with 2,671 deaths; and suicide, 2,355 deaths. The ten leading causes together accounted for 77.6 percent of deaths to Texas residents.

The total number of infant deaths increased from 2,369 in 2002 to 2,483 in 2003. The infant mortality rate also increased, from 6.4 in 2002 to 6.6 in 2003.

The number of fetal deaths decreased from 2,277 in 2002 to 2,258 in 2003. The fetal death ratio decreased from 6.1 in 2002 to 6.0 in 2003.

There were 76,019 induced terminations of pregnancy (abortions) obtained by Texas residents in 2003. This is a 0.3 percent decrease from 2002, when Texas residents obtained 76,278 abortions. The abortion rate decreased from 15.6 per 1,000 women 15-44 years of age in 2002 to 15.4 in 2003. The abortion ratio and the percent of pregnancies resulting in abortion decreased from 2002 to 2003. The 2003 abortion ratio of 201.4 induced abortions per 1,000 live births was down from 204.8 in 2002. The percentage of all reported pregnancies (live births, fetal deaths plus induced abortions) among Texas residents resulting in abortion decreased slightly from 16.9 percent in 2002 to 16.7 in 2003.

There were 178,751 marriages in 2003 compared to 181,990 in 2002. The number of divorces decreased from 85,394 in 2002 to 84,316 in 2003.

The birth, death, and fetal death tabulations provided in this report are for residents of Texas. Births and fetal deaths are classified by the mother's county and city of residence. Deaths are classified by the county and city of residence of the decedent. Marriages are reported by county in which the marriage license was issued and divorces are reported by county in which the divorce decree was granted. Abortion data are classified by the patient's county of residence.

Births and deaths which occurred in Texas to residents of other states are excluded from these tabulations. Events which occurred to Texas residents, regardless of the place of occurrence, are included. A small percentage of Texas resident events occur in other states, and knowledge of these events is obtained through an interstate transcript exchange in cooperation with other states and the National Center for Health Statistics.