CDC: Infant mortality rate decline stabilizes

While the infant mortality rate was 9% lower in 2005 compared to 1995, since 2000 the rate has not changed significantly, according to a report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In 2005, the US infant mortality rate was 6.86 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, a statistically unchanged rate compared with data in 2004 (6.78 infants deaths per 1,000 live births), and similar to correspondong data reported in 2001 and 2003. In addition, the neonatal mortality rate was essentially unchanged from 2004 (4.52) to 2005 (4.54).

However, the post-neonatal mortality rate increased 3% from 2.25 in 2004 to 2.32 in 2005. Infant mortality rates for late preterm infants were three times as high as rates for term infants, and the percentage of infant deaths that were related to a preterm condition increased from 34.6% in 2000 to 36.5% in 2005, the CDC reported.