Infant mortality (i.e., infant deaths that occur within the first year of life) is a key indicator of health worldwide, reflecting the health not only of infants, but of the entire population. (1) Infant mortality is also an indicator of pregnant women’s access to high quality primary care.
What is the infant mortality rate?
The Report Card benchmark is the Healthy People 2010 goal of no more than 4.5 infant deaths per 1,000 live births [Healthy People 2010 Objective 16-1c].
Data Source: Infant Mortality Rate (per 1,000 live births), 2002-2004
EXPLANATION:
This measure is the number of deaths occurring to infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births.
SOURCE:
National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics Report 55 (May 2, 2007), Table 3, 21. The national number includes data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.