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[Washington D.C.]

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the infant mortality rate rose in 2022. That is the first jump in 20 years, according to data released by the CDC.

According to ABC News, more than 20,500 babies died in 2022 before the age of 1. Overall, there were 5.6 infant deaths for every 1,000 live births, a 3% increase from the year of 2021.

Infant mortality had been generally trending downwards since at least 1995, when consistent tracking began. Rates of infant deaths are still much higher than in ally nations.

Experts say that this increase is a cause for concern.

“Infant health is one of the most important public health indicators that we have,” said Amanda Jean Stevenson, a demographer and assistant professor of sociology at the University of Colorado Boulder, who was not involved with the new report but saw provisional data previously released by the CDC. “The fact that [infant mortality rates] are not continuing to decrease is a very big deal. Even flat infant mortality rates are not good. We need to see these numbers going down – and fast – because they are far too high.”

The leading causes of infant deaths between 2021 and 2022 have stayed consistent in the United States. Congenital malformations led to almost 1 in 5 deaths. Another 14% was caused by disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight, followed by sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), unintentional injuries, and maternal complications.

The rate of maternal complications jumped 9% between 2021 to 2022, from about 30 infant deaths for every 100,000 live births to more than 33 per 100,000 live births. None of the other leading causes increased significantly.

Infant health is tied strongly to maternal health, experts state. Despite recent declines, the U.S. continues to have a higher rate of maternal death than other high-income nations.

“We can certainly expect that maternal complications overall are increasing because the standard of care for pregnancy-related complications is not being met in many states,” Stevenson said.

COVID-19 also most likely played a significant role in the rise of infant mortality, according to Stevenson. Infections in pregnant women who were exposed to the coronavirus during the major surges in 2021 could have affected infants who would be born in 2022.

A large study from last year found that pregnant individuals who got COVID-19 were nearly four times more likely to be admitted into the intensive care unit than those who weren't infected. They were 15 times more likely to be ventilated and seven times more likely to die. They also had higher risks of preeclampsia, blood clots, and problems caused by high blood pressure. Babies born to moms with COVID-19 were at higher risk of preterm birth and low birth weights.

American Indian and Alaska Native women have been disproportionally affected by COVID-19, and infant mortality rates for this group rose dramatically between 2021 and 2022.

The infant mortality rate was highest amongst Black infants in 2022, with nearly 11 deaths for every 1,000 live births. But the rate among American Indian and Alaska Native infants surged more than 20% in one year, to more than 9 deaths per 1,000 live births. The mortality rate for White infants increased more than average but remained lower than in most other racial ethnic groups, with about 4.5 deaths for every 1,000 live births.

The reproductive health landscape in the U.S. also shifted dramatically in the second half of 2022, after the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision revoked the federal right to an abortion.

Recent research has shown some connections between infant mortality and abortion restrictions, finding that infant deaths spiked in Texas after the state passed a law in September of 2021 that banned nearly all abortions beyond about six weeks of pregnancy.

Stevenson said that making this connection at a national level is more complicated.

“A national-level change across the whole year due to a change that would have only been observable in the second half of the year and only in some states would be surprising,” she said. “But I have been surprised before by the magnitude of impacts that restrictions on abortion and contraception can have on infant outcomes.”

Of the 14 states that have enacted near-total bans on abortion since the Dobbs decision, all but two had an higher-than-average infant mortality rate, according to the CDC data.

Source, WMTW/ABC News