[PNWHEALTH] [Fwd: CDC/NCHS RELEASE NEW REPORT TODAY: INFANT MORTALITY RATE IN THE US LARGELY UNCHANGED]

[Laura Larsson]

Friends:

Interesting report on infant mortality for your information.

Laura

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	CDC/NCHS RELEASE NEW REPORT TODAY: INFANT MORTALITY RATE IN
THE US LARGELY UNCHANGED
Date: 	Wed, 2 May 2007 11:34:01 -0400
From: 	Reid, Jennifer (CDC/CCHIS/NCHS) <jnr5 at cdc.gov>
To: 	snip


*Please note that the report will be available on the NCHS website by
12:30 PM today.*

* Picture (Metafile)*

*PRESS RELEASE*

For Release:                            Contact:  CDC National Center
for Health Statistics
May 2, 2007                             Office of Communication,
301-458-4800

*Overall Infant Mortality Rate in United States Largely Unchanged *

/Rates Among Black Women More than Twice that of White Women/

The infant mortality rate in the United States in 2004 was 6.78 infant
(under 1 year of age) deaths per 1,000 live births, not significantly
different from the rate of 6.84 in 2003, according to a report released
today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The report,
“Infant Mortality Statistics from the 2004 Period Linked Birth/Infant
Death Data Set,” also finds continued racial/ethnic differences in
infant mortality rates.

Non-Hispanic black women had the highest infant mortality rate in the
United States in 2004 – 13.60 per 1,000 live births compared to 5.66 per
1,000 births among non-Hispanic white women.  Women of Cuban ethnicity
in the United States had the lowest infant mortality rate – 4.55 per
1,000 live births.

Other infant mortality rates in the United States broken down by race
and Hispanic origin include American Indian (8.45), Puerto Rican (7.82),
Mexican (5.47), Asian/Pacific Islander (4.67) and Central/South American
(4.65).

The overall infant mortality rate has declined by 10 percent since 1995,
when the rate was 7.57 per 1,000 live births.  However, the rate has not
declined much since 2000 when it was 6.89.

Three years of data (2002-2004) were combined to get specific estimates
of infant mortality rates by state, race and Hispanic origin.   For the
three-year period there were significant differences in infant mortality
rates by state, ranging from a rate of 10.32 in Mississippi to 4.68 in
Vermont.   For infants of non-Hispanic black mothers, rates ranged from
17.57 in Wisconsin to 8.75 in Minnesota.  For infants of non-Hispanic
white mothers, the infant mortality rate ranged from 7.67 in West
Virginia to 3.80 in New Jersey.

For multiple births, the infant mortality rate was 30.46, more than five
times the rate of 5.94 for single births.  The report also finds that
infants born at 34-36 weeks gestation had infant mortality rates three
times higher than for those born at 37-41 weeks gestation.

A second, related report, “Trends in Preterm-Related Infant Mortality by
Race/Ethnicity: United States, 1999-2004,” finds that in 2004, 36.1
percent of all infant deaths in the United States were due to
preterm-related causes, up from 34.5 percent of all infant deaths in
1999.

Other findings from the second report:

           o Nearly half (46 percent) of infant deaths to non-Hispanic
             black women and 40 percent of infant deaths to Puerto Rican
             women were due to preterm-related causes of death.  The
             percentage was somewhat lower for other race/ethnic groups.
           o Preterm-related infant mortality rates were more than three
             times higher for non-Hispanic black (6.24) than for
             non-Hispanic white (1.80) mothers.  The preterm-related
             infant mortality rate for Puerto Rican (3.15) mothers was 75
             percent higher than for non-Hispanic white mothers.
             Preterm-related infant mortality rates for American Indian
             (1.89), Mexican (1.72), and Asian or Pacific Islander (1.63)
             women were not significantly different from the rate for
             non-Hispanic white women.
           o In 2004, the preterm-related infant mortality rate for
             non-Hispanic black mothers was actually higher than the
             infant mortality rate for all causes for non-Hispanic white,
             Mexican, and Asian or Pacific Islander women.

The two reports are available at _www.cdc.gov/nchs_
<http://www.cdc.gov/nchs>.

###

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


*Jennifer A. Reid*
*Centers for Disease Control & Prevention*
*National Center for Health Statistics*
*Office of the Center Director/Public Affairs *
*Voice: 301-458-4457*
*Fax: 301-458-4024*
*__**_http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/___**__*



-- 
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Clinical Faculty, Health Services, SPHCM, University of Washington
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