As per findings published in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Vital Statistics Report, a significant decline has come in the number of infants dying before their first birthday. In fact, the decline is at its historic low.

The CDC said that drop has been taking place since 2005. In 2005, infant mortality rate has dropped by 13%. Between 2012 and 2013, the rate has dropped from 5.98 deaths per 1,000 births to 5.96. In 2013, 23,446 infants died in America, the number was 208 less than the figure in 2012.

Amongst all, mortality rate has dropped maximum among Puerto Ricans and Cuban-Americans, 14% in former ones and 40% among the latter. As expected, the infant mortality is double among blacks in comparison to whites.

The report unveiled that the condition in 2013 was that the infants born at 37 or 38 weeks of pregnancy had mortality rate 63% higher than seen among infants at full term. In multiple births, the infant mortality rate was 25.84 per 1,000 births.

In that year, main reasons of infant death were preterm-related like short gestation and low birth weight. Another 15% deaths happened due to sudden, unexpected infant death like accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed.

In recent years, Oklahoma has witnessed an overall decline in its infant mortality rate. The state’s 2013 infant mortality rate was 6.73 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, which was a 15% decline from its 2005 rate.