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Objectives: This study compared the neonatal mortality rates (NMRs) and certification behaviors between New Taipei City (NTC) and other cities/counties in Taiwan. Methods: We first examined the NMR trends for days <28 and day 0 for each city or county for the years 2002 to 2022. Joinpoint regression was performed to identify significant changes in the trends. We then linked five population-based data sets to calculate the proportion of day-0 deaths for which the death certificate was issued by an obstetrician and to examine the related characteristics. Finally, we reviewed the charts for 50 day-0 deaths in NTC in 2021 and interviewed hospital managers regarding the regulation of certification behaviors. Results: Only the day 0 NMR trends for NTC and Kaohsiung City (KC) exhibited a decline-and-rise pattern. The annual percent change was 11.4% since 2012 for NTC and 8.1% since 2006 for KC. In total, 788 day-0 deaths occurred between 2018 and 2021, and the death certificates of 404 (52%) were issued by obstetricians. The percentage of day-0 deaths with obstetrician-issued death certificates was 72% in NTC, which was higher than those of other cities/counties (approximately 55%), and a rising trend was also identified (63% in 2018, 73% in 2019, 74% in 2020, and 78% in 2022). More than nine-tenths of these deaths involved a gestational age of <24 weeks, and most of them were the result of artificial abortions. The interviewed hospital managers indicated that various regulations for certification behaviors have been introduced. Conclusions: The higher NMRs and rising NMR trend in NTC compared with other cities/counties were partially due to certification-related behavioral artifacts. To properly interpret the regional variations in NMRs we should first remove this behavioral artifact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]