Maryland’s infant mortality rate dropped to the lowest rate in the state’s history, Gov. Martin O’Malley announced Wednesday. He called the 7 percent drop “a new milestone for Maryland.” The 2010 rate of 6.7 deaths per 1,000 births is higher than the national rate in 2009, which was 6.4, and slightly lower than Virginia’s 2009 rate of 7. Maryland’s rate fell from 8 in 2008 to 7.2 in 2009.
More recent data was not available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics or the Virginia Department of Health.
| 2010 infant mortality rates | ||||||||
| County | Overall | White | Black | |||||
| Anne Arundel County | 4.7 | 3.3 | 10.9 | |||||
| Baltimore City | 11.0 | 3.6 | 14.7 | |||||
| Baltimore County | 6.7 | 4.4 | 11.6 | |||||
| Frederick County | 3.2 | 3.0 | NA | |||||
| Howard County | 6.8 | 3.5 | 19.4 | |||||
| Montgomery County | 4.3 | 3.3 | 7.0 | |||||
| Prince George’s County | 9.0 | 5.8 | 11.1 | |||||
| Note: Rate is Infant deaths per 1,000 births | ||||||||
The District of Columbia’s 2008 infant mortality rate was 10.9. Staff at D.C.’s Department of Health did not know if more recent data is available.
Of those calculated, Frederick County had the lowest infant mortality rate in the state in 2010 at 3.2 deaths per 1,000 births. Worcester County had the highest rate at 16.7, but that is based on only seven deaths. The state does not calculate rates for counties that had fewer than five infant deaths.
Baltimore City and Prince George’s County account for 42 percent of all infant deaths in Maryland, according to a statement by O’Malley’s office.
A report by Maryland Vital Statistics attributed the state’s decline in infant mortality to large declines in infant deaths in Baltimore City and Montgomery County.
Montgomery County Health Officer Ulder Tillman said that may be because the county is the most populous in the state. The county also has received state grants to address infant mortality.
But because infant mortality rates are based on such small numbers, one or two years of data isn’t enough to know if an infant mortality rate is showing significant improvement, she warned.
“We’ll have to see what happens over the next years out,” she said. “We’re going in the right direction.”
Tillman also emphasized that ethnic and racial disparities in infant mortality rates are large. White, non-Hispanic populations tend to have the lowest mortality rates, while black populations often have higher rates. As a result, those areas with larger black populations can have higher infant morality rates.
Contrary to popular belief, socioeconomic status does not always have a direct correlation with infant mortality, said Tillman, so racial and ethnic disparities might be related to other factors.
“Even if you take women of the same educational achievement … you will still find that African American women have a higher rate of infant mortality,” said Frances Phillips, Maryland’s deputy secretary for public health.
Through its Infant Mortality Workgroup, Virginia’s Department of Health is working to curb some of these other factors by educating doctors, parents and caregivers about things like safe sleeping environments, good prenatal care and the dangers of elective C-sections, said spokeswoman Elizabeth Singer.
