Infant mortality declines in 2004

U.S. infant mortality declined slightly in 2004 to the lowest level on record, but the death rate for babies born to black mothers was more than double that of white mothers’ babies, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week.

The infant mortality rate, tracking deaths up to age 1, was 6.78 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2004, compared with 6.84 in 2003, the agency said.

The 2004 figure marked a decline of about 10% from a decade earlier and continued a long-term downward trend over several decades that experts attributed to factors such as improved prenatal care and greater awareness among women to avoid behaviors such as drinking and smoking while pregnant.