CDC: Infant Mortality Drops to Historic Low of 5.67/1,000 in 2018

THURSDAY, July 16, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Infant mortality reached a historic low of 5.67 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2018 in the United States, according to the July 16 National Vital Statistics Reports, a publication from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Danielle M. Ely, Ph.D., and Anne K. Driscoll, Ph.D., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, present 2018 infant mortality statistics by age at death, maternal race and Hispanic origin, maternal age, and gestational age.

The researchers found that 21,498 infant deaths were reported in 2018 in the United States, with an infant mortality rate of 5.67 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, a historic low, lower than the rate of 5.79 in 2017. For 2018, the neonatal and postneonatal mortality rates were 3.78 and 1.89, respectively, which were nonsignificantly lower than the 2017 rates (3.85 and 1.94, respectively). For infants of Hispanic women, the 2018 mortality rate declined compared with the 2017 rate. The 2018 infant mortality rate was higher for infants of non-Hispanic black versus non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic Asian, and Hispanic women (10.75 versus 4.63, 3.63, and 4.86, respectively).

There was no change noted in the five leading causes of death from 2017 to 2018; variation was seen in cause-of-death rankings and mortality rates by maternal race and Hispanic origin. For 2018, there was variation in infant mortality rates by states, from 3.50 in New Hampshire to 8.41 in Mississippi.

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