Prometheus 6

Infant Mortality Is Decreasing in Puerto Ricans and Blacks
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA

Gains among blacks and Puerto Ricans drove infant mortality rates to a record low in New York City last year, and narrowed a persistent disparity between those groups and whites, city officials reported yesterday.

In 2005, 6 out of every 1,000 babies born in the city died before reaching their first birthdays, according to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The most recent national figure available, for 2004, was 6.8 per 1,000; New York City has had lower infant mortality than the nation as a whole for several years.

The rate in the city dropped steadily for decades, and it fell sharply after 1989, when it was 13.3 per 1,000. But since 2001, the city’s rate has changed little, fluctuating between 6 and 6.5.