America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2007
Infant Mortality
Infant mortality is defined as the death of an infant before his or her first birthday. Infant mortality is related to the underlying health of the mother, public health practices, socioeconomic conditions, and availability and use of appropriate health care for infants and pregnant women.115 In the United States, about two-thirds of infant deaths occur in the first month after birth and are due mostly to health problems of the infant or the pregnancy, such as preterm delivery or birth defects.
Indicator HEALTH2: Death rates among infants by race and Hispanic origin of mother, 1983–2004
NOTE: Data are available for 1983–1991 and 1995–2004 only. Infant deaths are deaths before an infant's first birthday.
SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Linked Files of Live Births and Infant Deaths.
- The infant mortality rate was 6.8 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2004, unchanged from the rate in 2003.
- Substantial racial and ethnic disparities continue. Black, non-Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native infants have consistently had a higher infant mortality rate than that of other racial or ethnic groups. For example, in 2004, the Black, non-Hispanic infant mortality rate was 13.6 infant deaths per 1,000 live births and the American Indian/Alaska Native rate was 8.4, both higher than the rates among White, non-Hispanic (5.7), Hispanic (5.5), and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.7) infants.
- Infant mortality rates also vary within racial and ethnic populations. For example, among Hispanics in the United States, the infant mortality rate for 2004 ranged from 4.6 deaths per 1,000 live births for infants of Cuban origin to a high of 7.8 for Puerto Rican infants.
115 Kleinman, J.C., and Kiely, J.L. (1991). Infant Mortality. Healthy People 2000 Statistical Notes, 1 (2). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.