AUGUSTA, Ga. – The U.S. infant mortality rate rose 3% last year — the largest increase in two decades — and Georgia had one of the worst statistics.

More than 30 states saw at least slight rises in infant mortality rates in 2022, but four states had statistically significant increases — Georgia, Iowa, Missouri and Texas.

In numbers, U.S. infant deaths surpassed 20,500 in 2022 — 610 more than the year before nationwide. But Georgia had 116 more infant deaths than the year before, and Texas had 251 more.

Georgia health officials said they are working to understand infant mortality trends in the Peach State, and noted the 2022 rate was similar to rates in 2018 and 2019.

There may have been incomplete reporting in 2020 and 2021 during the first years of the pandemic, Georgia Department of Public Health spokeswoman Nancy Nydam said, and “the 2022 numbers may be more a reflection of what was actually happening all along.”

OVERALL DEATH RATE:

• Overall in the U.S., the death rate fell 5% in 2022 — a general decrease that’s been attributed to the waning impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially on people 65 and older. U.S. maternal deaths also fell last year.

U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., sounded the alarm on the statistics:

“Georgia’s infant mortality rate is a crisis,” he said. “This week’s CDC announcement should ring alarm bells statewide. It is imperative that policymakers at all levels and health care professionals statewide work urgently together to save the lives of Georgia’s newborn babies.”

The national numbers

Nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found white and Native American infants, infant boys and babies born at 37 weeks or earlier had significant death rate increases.

The national rate rose to 5.6 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2022, up from 5.44 per 1,000 the year before, the new report said.

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The increase may seem small, but it’s the first statistically significant jump in the rate since the increase between 2001 and 2002, said Danielle Ely, the CDC report’s lead author. She also said researchers could not establish whether the 2022 rise was a one-year statistical blip — or the beginning of a more lasting trend.

The CDC also noted larger increases for two of the leading causes of infant deaths — maternal complications and bacterial meningitis.

Infant mortality is the measure of how many babies die before they reach their first birthday. Because the number of babies born in the U.S. varies from year to year, researchers instead calculate rates to better compare infant mortality over time.

The U.S. infant mortality rate has been worse than other high-income countries, which experts have attributed to poverty, inadequate prenatal care and other possibilities. But even so, the U.S. rate generally gradually improved because of medical advances and public health efforts.

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