Monitoring infant mortality rates (IMRs) related to severe neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia is crucial. Periodic updates of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines since 1994 have improved care and monitoring for hyperbilirubinaemia in newborns.1 2 However, knowledge gaps exist regarding IMRs associated with jaundice over the past two decades. This study aims to fill these gaps by utilising a national dataset to assess IMR prevalence rates, causes and trends associated with perinatal jaundice.

To analyse IMR up to 1 year of age, this cross-sectional study used the US CDC-WONDER birth/infant death-linked database from 1999 to 2020 (accessed at http://wonder.cdc.gov/ucd-icd10.html on 24 November 2022). Deaths attributed to hyperbilirubinaemia (ICD-10 codes P55, P56, P57, P58, P59) as the underlying cause of death were included (online supplemental file 1). IMR was calculated per 1 million live births, along with Poisson-modelled 95% CIs. We performed bivariate analysis (GraphPad Prism V.9) to evaluate IMR, based on birth certificate-based maternal race, with statistical significance set at p<0.05. Trends were identified …