CDC Report: U.S. Infant Mortality Rate Worse Than Other Wealthy Countries

More babies die before they reach their first birthday in the United States than in 25 other wealthy countries, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The U.S. infant mortality rate in 2010 was 6.1 deaths per 1,000 live births, the CDC reports. That’s more than double the mortality rate in Finland (2.3), Portugal (2.5), Sweden (2.5), Czech Republic (2.7) and Norway (2.8). In fact, the U.S. trailed all wealthy European countries and also lagged behind Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Israel in 2010, the most recent year for which data are available.

When extremely premature babies (those born before 24 weeks of gestation) were excluded, the U.S. infant mortality rate dropped to 4.2 per 1,000 live births. The U.S. also compared more favorably to European nations for babies born after 24 to 31 weeks of gestation.

But the longer the gestation period, the worse the U.S. infant mortality rate is compared to the European countries studied. For example, the U.S. infant mortality rate was highest among the countries studied for infants born at 37 weeks of gestation or more. While the U.S. has a higher percentage of infants born preterm than any European country studied, this doesn’t fully explain the overall higher U.S. infant death rate.

“I think we’ve known for a long time that the U.S. has a higher preterm birth rate, but this higher infant mortality rate for full-term, big babies who should have really good survival prospects is not what we expected,” the CDC’s Marian MacDorman, a lead author of the study, told HealthDay.

Experts Say U.S. Gaps in Care Explain High Death Rate

According to Dr. Deborah Campbell of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, disparities in prenatal care are in part to blame for higher U.S. infant mortality rates.

“The U.S. lags behind other developed countries because there remain significant gaps in access to and utilization of prenatal and preconception care,” Dr. Campbell told HealthDay. “There is a well-delineated history of racial and ethnic disparities in maternal and infant outcomes in the U.S., with black women and their infants being at greatest risk and having the highest rates of poor outcomes.”

A similar conclusion was reached by the authors of a University of Chicago paper entitled “Why is infant mortality higher in the U.S. than in Europe?” The answer to that question, they say, is due almost entirely to high mortality among less-advantaged groups.

“There is tremendous inequality in the U.S., with lower education groups, unmarried and African-American women having much higher infant mortality rates,” the authors write.

The authors of the recent CDC paper do not attempt to explain why so many American babies die within a year of birth, but separate CDC research finds that a handful of conditions – premature births, sudden infant death syndrome, maternal complications, injuries and serious birth defects – are to blame for nearly 60 percent of U.S. infant deaths.

The Seattle birth injury attorneys at Morrow Kidman Tinker Macey-Cushman, PLLC represent families across Washington who have lost infants due to medical malpractice and are available for a free consultation.