Falling Back

From 1950 to 1999 the infant mortality rate declined from 23 to 7.1 deaths per 1,000 live births. Much of this decline was realized between 1950 and 1985, but there continued to be a modest decline throughout the 1990s. Unfortunately, since 2000 the infant mortality rate in the United States has been stable, while it has continued to improve elsewhere. Thus the United State’s dropped from 23rd in 2000 to 29th in 2007. Now the United States is tied with Poland and Slovakia and ranks just above Puerto Rico.