Increase in baby deaths in older women

A close look at the rising infant mortality rate revealed an unexpected finding that most of the increase in baby deaths occurred among very low birth-weight (VLBW) infants born to older, married, suburban women who receive early prenatal care. Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's office in Delaware, knew before beginning this study that infant mortality rate was increasing so they wanted to study vital statistics data to get a better sense of which infants and which mothers were involved. They found that the infant mortality rate in Delaware had increased since 1996. Delaware's infant mortality rate rose from 7.1 deaths per 1,000 live births during 1994-1996 to 8.7 during 1998-2000. Mortality among VLBW infants increased 25 percent over the study period, but there was no significant change in infant mortality among normal birth-weight babies. In fact, the heaviest of the VLBW infants had the greatest increases in mortality, a finding the researchers are unable to explain at the moment.

It is also unclear why VLBW infants born to traditionally low-risk women of higher socioeconomic status in Delaware are dying at an increasing rate. It is unlikely that there is any one cause affecting this population, but the concerns are that it might be related to delayed childbearing, problems with infertility, and treatments for infertility. The use of artificial reproductive techniques, which increased 13 percent in Delaware between 1996 and 2000, might increase the risk of infant deaths. In the future, this may provide valuable information about the risk of infant mortality resulting from infertility treatments. These women were outside traditional high-risk groups for infant mortality. It is an interesting finding that requires further study.

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