The US infant mortality rate rose last year. The CDC says it’s the largest increase in two decades

By MIKE STOBBE
AP Medical Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. infant mortality rate rose 3% last year, which is the largest increase in two decades. A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows significant death rate increases for white and Native American infants, infant boys and babies born at 37 weeks or earlier. It also shows larger increases for deaths from maternal complications and bacterial meningitis. U.S. infant deaths surpassed 20,500 in 2022. That’s 610 more than 2021. The report did not try to answer why the unusual jump occurred, nor whether the rise was a one-year statistical blip or the beginning of a trend.