A report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that the infant mortality rate in the United States has declined about 2 percent in 2006, but the problem still remains a major national concern. The data indicate that the nation’s infant mortality rate remained stable from 2004 to 2005 – 6.78 deaths per 1,000 vive births vs. 6.86 deaths per 1,000 live births. Infant death rates were higher among boys compared to girls. The United States dropped to 29th in the world in infant mortality in 2004 after the year before it was 27th.

Report’s findings showed that Cuban rate was 4.42 deaths per 1,000 births, which makes them the only ethnic group to reach the U.S. Healthy People 2010 target of 4.5 deaths per 1,000 live births.

The report showed blacks had the highest rate of infant mortality in 2005 at 13.63 deaths per 1,000 live births.  

Infant deaths in the United States continue to surpass other developed countries despite a bigger amount of money spent on health care. Twenty-two countries had infant mortality rates in 2004 below 5.0 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.

Studies have shown that children born prematurely are more likely to have medical disabilities, which could impede them from properly socializing. Babies born even a few weeks early are more likely to have respiratory problems later in life, compared to babies born at full-term.
Premature birth and low birth weight are the two main factors that contribute to more than two-thirds of infant deaths.