INFANT MORTALITY

In 2001, 9,139 infants born to residents of U.S. cities with populations over 100,000 died in the first year of life. The city infant mortality rate was 7.4 deaths per 1,000 live births, which was higher than the rate of 6.9 for the nation as a whole. Although the infant mortality rate in cities has routinely been higher than the rate nationwide, it has steadily declined over the past decade. Between 1990 and 2000, infant mortality in cities declined by roughly one-third; the decline nationwide in the same period was 25 percent.

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