The change in 2022 data represents a notable moment for public health officials: an increase to 5.6 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, compared with 5.44 in 2021.

In its preliminary estimate, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 3,661,220 live births last year, a 1% year-over-year decrease from 2021.

The rate increased to 5.37 per 1,000 live births last year, up from 5.15 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2021. The cause is not known.

Black infants died at a rate of 10.9 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, more than double the rate of 4.5 deaths per 1,000 live births for white women and 3.4 deaths per 1,000 live births for ...

But by 2021, during the first full year of the pandemic, that rate surged to 32.9 deaths for every 100,000 live births.

Deaths surged past births during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Even after COVID deaths flattened out, total deaths still outpaced live births.

Analysis of 14,772,210 live births revealed that counties designated as maternity care deserts faced significantly higher maternal mortality rates than those with full access to care. Desert ...