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Oct 15, 2008 | 3
The chance of a baby in the United States dying before its first birthday continues to get worse compared to that risk in other countries, new statistics show.
The U.S. now ranks 29th in the world for infant mortality, compared to its previous ranking of 27th eight years ago, according to a report released today by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Back in 1960, the country stood at No. 12 for those deaths.
The new ranking is based on infant deaths in 2004, the most recent year data was available for 37 developed countries. Singapore ranked first, with 2 infant deaths per 1,000 live births; Romania was last, with 16.8 infant deaths per 1,000 births.
The actual rate of U.S. infant deaths in 2005 — 6.86 per 1,000 live births — was pretty much the same as it was in 2000, when it was 6.89 per 1,000. But for the first time since the 1950s, the rate has plateaued, just as the government is pushing to lower it to 4.5 infant deaths per 1,000 births by 2010.
Jul 25, 2008 | 6
Louise Brown, the first child conceived by assisted reproductive technology or in vitro fertilization (IVF), as it is commonly known, enters her 30s today. Her 1978 birth, just outside of Manchester, England, caused a stir throughout the world, with many groups claiming that her manner of conception was akin to scientists playing God. Today, she is merely the first of more than 3.5 million children around the globe (more than 250,000 in the U.S.) conceived in a test tube. That accounts for 1.5 percent of all babies born every year. According to celebrity magazine US Weekly, that number includes Angelina Jolie and Bratt Pitt's twins Knox and Vivienne born in Nice, France, on July 12.
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