Department of Health
John J. Dreyzehner, MD, MPH, Commissioner

What the Stats Tell Us

What do Infant Moratlity Statistics Tell Us?

What is the Burden of Infant Mortality Nationally?
Infant mortality is used to compare the health and well-being of populations across and within countries. The U.S. infant mortality rate, the rate at which babies less than one year of age die, has continued to steadily decline over the past several decades, from 26.0 per 1,000 live births in 1960 to 6.7 per 1,000 live births in 2007. Among developed countries, the United States ranks near the bottom in the world in infant mortality. This ranking is due in large part to disparities which continue to exist among various racial and ethnic groups in this country, particularly African Americans.

Promising Strategies
Focus on modifying the behaviors, lifestyles, and conditions that affect birth outcomes, such as smoking, substance abuse, poor nutrition, lack of prenatal care, medical problems, and chronic illness. Public health agencies must partner to improve the infant mortality rate in the United States. This joint approach should address the behaviors, lifestyles, and conditions that affect birth outcomes. Substantial investments have been made in consultation, research, and service delivery to reduce disparities in access to health care and health status.

What can Health Care Providers do to Help Reduce Infant Mortality Rates?
Health care providers should advise their patients about factors that affect birth outcomes, such as maternal smoking, drug and alcohol abuse, poor nutrition, stress, insufficient prenatal care, chronic illness or other medical problems.

What can Communities and Individuals do to Help Reduce Infant Mortality Rates?
Communities can play an important role in this effort by encouraging pregnant women to seek prenatal care in the first trimester, which will ensure a better birth outcome than little or no prenatal care. Parents and caregivers should place sleeping infants on their backs and reduce bed sharing. Research has demonstrated that babies who slept on their stomachs were at a higher risk for SIDS.

Source: Adapted from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office of Minority Health

TN Infant Mortality Facts

What is infant mortality?
The infant mortality rate is the number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births in a given population.

Tennessee Facts

• In 2009, Tennessee’s infant mortality rate was 8.0.  This exceeds the Healthy People 2020 goal of 6.0 infant deaths
  per 1,000 live births.
• From 2005 to 2009, the rate decreased from 8.8 to 8.0 per 1,000 live births.
• In 2009, the black infant death rate (16.0 per 1,000 live births) was 2.7 times the rate for white babies
  (6.0 per 1,000 live births).

Factors that lead to increased infant mortality risk

Low birthweight babies

• Low birthweight babies (less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces) are more likely to die in the first year as compared
  to normal birthweight infants.
• The 2009 black low-weight birth percentage (13.8 percent) was 1.7 times the white percentage (7.9 percent).

Preterm births

• The infant death rate for premature babies (babies born before 37 weeks) is greater than those born
  at a normal gestation (37 to 40 weeks).
• In 2006, the percentage of premature births for black mothers was 15.8 percent; for white mothers it was 11.6 percent.
• Black premature babies were almost twice as likely to die in infancy as white premature babies. For black premature babies the infant mortality rate was 66.1 per 1,000 live births versus 34.9 for white premature babies.

Lack of prenatal care

• Infants born to women who wait until the seventh month or later to start prenatal care or who received no care are more likely to die compared to infants of women who started care in the first trimester.
• In 2006, black mothers were twice as likely as white mothers to receive inadequate or no prenatal care.

Mothers with less than a high school education

• Mothers with less than a high school education are more likely to experience an infant death than those with more education.

Use of tobacco

• Tobacco use during pregnancy and after birth can increase the risk of having your baby die.

Sleep-Related Deaths

• Babies should always be put to sleep on their backs. Babies that are put to sleep on their stomach or side are more
  likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS.
• In 2009, 20 infants died from SIDS in Tennessee.
• Babies should be put to sleep alone, on their back and in a crib. Babies should not sleep in an adult bed, with other people or on a couch or chair. Babies should sleep on a firm mattress and should be covered by a thin blanket. Babies do not need extra blankets, stuffed animals, toys, pillows or bumper pads in their cribs. These items put the baby at risk of being suffocated.