Health Care Issues

Advances In Science Lowering Infant Mortality

The journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics reports the infant mortality rate fell to an all-time low in the U.S. last year -- 7.2 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.

  • The infant mortality rate for 1996 is 5 percent lower than for 1995.

  • Moreover, life expectancy for American children born last year reached a new all-time high, 76.1 years -- or 0.3 years longer than in 1995.

  • While scientific progress is lowering the infant mortality rate, it is also contributing to a growing number of infants with low birth weights -- 7.4 percent of all births in 1996, the highest level reported since 1975.

  • Scientists attribute this trend to increased use of fertility treatments and the growing number of women in their 40s who are giving birth.

The number of multiple births has been increasing by an average of 2 percent per year since 1980.

The report also noted the fifth consecutive drop in the birth rate for teenagers in 1996 -- down 4 percent to 54.7 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 19. The rate for Hispanic teens fell 5 percent to 101.6 births per 1,000.

Source: Associated Press, "Infant Death Rate Hits New Low," Washington Times, December 2, 1997.

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