Infant mortality in the United States was down by 15% from 2005 to 2014, with 33 states reporting significant declines, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
The overall rate for 2014 was 5.82 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, compared with 6.84 per 1,000 in 2005. The data for individual states were grouped into 3-year periods, so between the periods of 2005-2007 and 2012-2014, there were 33 states (and the District of Columbia) with a significant decline and 17 states with no significant change. Three states – Maine, South Dakota, and Utah – had increased infant mortality, but the changes did not reach significance, the NCHS reported, using data from the National Vital Statistics System.
The largest decline, 42.7%, was seen in Washington, D.C., while Colorado posted the largest significant drop among the states at 21.1%. Vermont was a bit higher at 23%, but that was not enough to achieve significance. Along with Colorado and D.C., there were 10 other states with significant declines of 16.0% or more, with Connecticut and South Carolina both over 20%, the NCHS investigators said.
