The death rate for infants in Michigan fell to a record low in 2004, but the death rate declined just slightly for black infants

Charles E. Ramirez:

"After many years of collaborative efforts to decrease infant mortality, Michigan recorded in 2004 its lowest rate ever of 7.6 per 1,000 live births," said Janet Olszewski, director of the Michigan Department of Community Health, in a statement Monday.

The department released figures for 2004 infant mortality rates for the state Monday and it was down more than 10 percent from 8.5 per 1,000 live births in 2003, according to the department.

The infant mortality rate is the number of deaths of infants under the age of 1 per 1,000 live births.

The reason the figure is important is "it represents an index of our well-being," said Dr. Seth Foldy, associate clinical professor of family and community medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

"It's a basic, vital statistic and one of the few measures that's comparable around the world," said Foldy, who was Milwaukee's health commissioner from 1998 to 2004.

The national average was 7.0 per 1,000 live births in 2002, according to the latest figures from the National Center for Health Statistics.

"The country has seen lower infant mortality rates for the last several consecutive years," he said.

"However, there is still a huge lag on the part of African-Americans."

The number of infant deaths in Michigan totaled 984 in 2004, down 11.5 percent from 1,112 in 2003.

The death rate among white infants fell 22.4 percent to 5.2 per 1,000 live births in 2004 from 6.7 per 1,000 live births a year earlier.

The rate for African-American infants fell slightly. In 2004, the rate was 17.3 per 1,000 live births -- 1 percent lower than a year earlier.

A Detroit News analysis in 2004 found that for every 1,000 black children born in suburban Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties, 19 don't survive their first year.

It further found that among black children born in Detroit, 17 of 1,000 don't live past their first birthday.

T.J. Bucholz, a spokesman for the state's health department, said the state effort's to reduce infant mortality rates are helping -- but still have a way to go to improve the survival rates for black children.

"There's a disparity between the mortality rates among African-American and white infants," he said. "We have more work to do."

Experts say programs that educate mothers about the importance of taking care of themselves during their pregnancy, proper nutrition for infants and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome have helped reduce infant mortality rates.

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