--- title: Infant Deaths Continue to Drop in the U.S. description: The latest national data show improvements in infant mortality, including new lows among groups with traditionally high rates canonical: https://time.com/4707909/infant-mortality-rate-death-decline/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-21T15:24:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:57:06.894Z article:section: Health og:title: Infant Deaths Continue to Drop in the U.S. og:description: The latest national data show improvements in infant mortality og:url: https://time.com/4707909/infant-mortality-rate-death-decline/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4af6c2a92ba30b00/6988bf39cf40a8b092c46e84/gettyimages-540730969.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Baby boy og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Infant Deaths Continue to Drop in the U.S. twitter:description: The latest national data show improvements in infant mortality twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4af6c2a92ba30b00/6988bf39cf40a8b092c46e84/gettyimages-540730969.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Infant Deaths Continue to Drop in the U.S.  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Mar 21, 2017 3:24 PM UTC  Stuart Ashley—Getty Images  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Mar 21, 2017 3:24 PM UTC Government agencies have released some [good news for newborns](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db279.htm). The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) found in a new analysis that the rate of infant mortality in the U.S. is continuing to decline, after reaching a high in 2005. Since then, rates of infant deaths have dropped by 15%, from 6.86 deaths per 1,000 births to 5.82 in 2014\. These declines were driven by record-low rates among Hispanic, Black and Asian populations. The biggest drops—by about 20%—were seen for the infants of Asian or Pacific Islander and Black mothers. Every racial subgroup, except for American Indian and Alaska Native people, experienced a decline. The infant mortality rate for [sudden infant death syndrome](http://time.com/4542358/aap-sids-infant-death-prevent-guidelines/?iid=sr-link8) (SIDS) dropped by 29%. And while birth defects remain the leading cause of infant death, followed by low birth weight, both saw declines from 2005 to 2014\. 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