Infant mortality in the U.S. increased for the first time in two decades last year, according to a report released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week. Maine’s rate also increased.
In 2021, 60 babies in Maine died within a year of their birth. The following year, 77 babies died. That’s an overall increase of five deaths per thousand births to more than six. And it’s the second time in roughly a decade that the infant mortality rate rose in Maine.
Dr. Alan Picarillo, a neonatologist at Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital in Portland and chair of the Maine Maternal, Fetal, and Infant Review Panel, said it’s difficult to know whether that signals a trend because Maine has such a small number of births.
“Even though statistically some people will say, ‘Oh, it’s just a one year blip, it’s not statistically significant,’ it’s clinically significant and we continue to review all of the outcomes every single year,” he said.
The most common causes of infant death are preterm births and congenital anomalies.
“And that’s what we see across the country and that’s what we’ve seen in Maine for years,” Picarillo said. “And even within those deaths, the vast majority of them were incredibly small, premature infants who passed away within the first seven days of age.”
Picarillo said to reduce infant deaths, continued investment is needed to ensure equitable access to care and healthy pregnancies.
This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
