Health
Infant mortality: Inside the numbers
■ An occasional snapshot of current facts and trends in medicine.
Quick View. Posted May 28, 2007
Since 2000, U.S. infant mortality rates have stopped declining and started leveling off.
This change is attributed in part to an increase in preterm and low-birth-weight births. By 2004, 36.1% of all infant deaths in the U.S. were preterm-related, up from 34.5% in 1999. Experts connect the overall phenomena to an increase of multiple births, which in turn are related to more widespread use of assisted reproductive therapies; and to changes in the medical management of pregnancy, such as more frequent preterm cesarean deliveries and preterm induction of labor. Experts urge continued tracking of preterm-related causes of infant death to improve understanding of trends in infant mortality and perinatal health in the U.S.
Note: Preterm-related deaths are those in which the infant was born before 37 completed weeks of gestation and the underlying cause of death has a direct, etiological connection to preterm birth based on categories in the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision. Asian Pacific Islander includes people of Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System