WEDNESDAY, Nov. 8, 2023 (HealthDay News) — The overall U.S. fetal mortality rate decreased by 5 percent between 2021 and 2022, according to a November Vital Statistics Rapid Release report, a publication from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Elizabeth C. W. Gregory, M.P.H., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues describe changes in total, early, and late fetal mortality between 2021 and 2022 compared to those from 2020 to 2021. Data were based on reports of fetal deaths filed in the 50 states and District of Columbia.

The researchers found that the overall fetal mortality rate decreased 5 percent between 2021 and 2022, from 5.73 to 5.45 per 1,000 live births and fetal deaths. Decreases were seen in the fetal mortality rate for fetal deaths at 20 to 27 weeks of gestation and 28 weeks of gestation or more (early and late fetal deaths; 6 and 4 percent, respectively). From 2021 to 2022, there were decreases observed in the fetal mortality rate for White non-Hispanic and Hispanic women (8 and 5 percent, respectively), but no significant changes were seen in other race and Hispanic origin groups. In comparison, no significant changes were seen in fetal mortality rates from 2020 to 2021 overall, for early or late fetal deaths, for most race and Hispanic-origin groups, or for most states, but a 4 percent decline was seen for Black women.

“This analysis of provisional 2022 fetal mortality data found that total, early, and late fetal mortality rates declined by 4 to 6 percent,” the authors write.

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