U.S. Infant Mortality Rates Down 15%

Infant mortality rates across the U.S. have dropped 15 percent over the past decade, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures. Between 2005 and 2014, the study shows that the infant mortality rate dropped to 5.82 infant deaths per 1,000 live births from 6.86. Incidences of sudden infant death syndrome alone dropped by 29 percent. “There was a public-health push in the past decade to figure out ways to lower this rate, and it has made an impact,” said report author T.J. Matthews. “We know that there have been a lot of efforts across the country in cities and states where they’re trying to figure out ways where they can lower the infant mortality rate.” However, despite the overall drop, babies born to non-Hispanic black women still have a mortality rate more than twice that of non-Hispanic white women, according to the CDC figures. “It’s good news, but on the other hand, we have so much more to do,” said Paul Jarris, chief medical officer for the March of Dimes. “The inequities between non-Hispanic blacks and American Indians and the Caucasian population have persisted.”