Many people were shocked when a 2006 report detailed that the US infant mortality rate ranked second highest in the world, among developed countries. Further, statistics regarding this rate showed disturbing patterns. Infant mortality rate was much higher in the US among minorities, and was connected often to not only deaths for infants but also health risks to mothers. Since the report, there have been a number of theories as to why the US infant mortality rate is so high in the US. These are listed as some of the main reasons.

At the top of the list is inequitable access to health care. Especially among those who are very poor, and among teens who have children, health care was not always equally available. It is not a stretch to imagine that good medical advice and monitoring of a pregnancy is an important contributing factor to babies born at an appropriate birth weight, born full-term, and most importantly born healthy.

It is certainly not the case that poor people only exist in the US. They exist in all industrialized nations. What did seem to bear heavily on these statistics was whether countries had free and easy access to health care. Countries with government health plans tended to have the lowest infant mortality rate.

Women who were of middle class or higher, and who had at least a high school diploma were much more likely to avoid infant mortality. On the whole, the population most at risk for suffering the pangs of losing a child is African-Americans, who are almost two times more likely to have a child either born dead or die within the first 24 hours after birth. While the average infant mortality rate in the US is 5 deaths per 1000 births, for African Americans, this number climbs to nearly ten deaths per 1000 births, a disturbing figure.

Not only education, but the availability of birth attendants is a contributing factor to a higher infant mortality rate in the US. This is a surprising statistic, given that we have more obstetricians and neonatologists per person than most other countries. Clearly it again comes down to access to these doctors, and education regarding pregnancy and health care.

One of the other contributing factors cited in the high US infant mortality rate is availability and education regarding birth control. When this is available, as is the case in most of the countries with lower infant mortality rates, fewer teenagers, one of the most likely groups to have pre-term labor, are less likely to become pregnant. This reduces the total group of teens who might lose a baby born severely premature.

Along with the high infant mortality rate in the US, there is also greater risk to mothers. Deaths during pregnancy climb with infant mortality rate, translating to more risk to moms. This is especially the case when a mother does not deliver a child with a birth attendant.

What can be gleaned from studies like the one done in 2006 is that there are quite clear solutions to the problem. The US can arrest the issue by learning from other nations. Such a choice would ensure better care for American mothers and children.