ADPH announces an infant mortality rate of 7.1 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Katherine Campbell, (334) 206-5675
Statistical Analysis Division, Center for Health Statistics, (334) 206-5429

The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) reports that the 2024 infant mortality rate, at 7.1 deaths per 1,000 live births, decreased from the 2023 rate of 7.8. This reflects that out of the 57,909 live births in 2024, 414 infants died within the first year of life. The provisional United States infant mortality rate for 2024 continues to remain lower than that of Alabama at 5.5 per 1,000 live births.

Among racial groups, the infant mortality rate for white infants decreased to 5.4 (222 infant deaths) in 2024 from 5.7 in 2023, and the infant mortality rate for Black infants decreased to 11.8 (176 infant deaths) from 13.1 in 2023. Alabama recorded its lowest overall infant mortality rate ever, 6.7, in 2022.

The three leading causes of infant deaths in 2024, accounting for 42.5 percent of infant deaths, were as follows:

• Congenital malformations, deformations, and abnormalities (21.5%)
• Disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight, not elsewhere classified (15.9%)
• Bacterial sepsis of newborn (5.1%)

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) again was one of the leading causes of infant death; however, the ranking improved from third highest (6.5%) in 2023 to fifth (3.4%) in 2024. Unintentional injuries (4.1%) were the fourth leading cause of infant death in 2024.

Births to teenagers (ages 10 to 19) of all races reached historic lows in 2024. The number of births to teenagers has been decreasing and reached its lowest number ever (3,336), and the percentage of births to teenagers was a historic low of 5.8. Also noteworthy was that the percentage of births to mothers who smoked has steadily decreased and dropped to its lowest level in more than a decade, 3.3 percent.

Other selected pregnancy and birth statistics include the following:

• The percentage of low-weight births in 2024 was 10.2, a slight decrease from the 2023 percentage of 10.5.
• Medicaid covered 42 percent of all births in 2024, while 55 percent of infant deaths were to mothers whose deliveries were paid for by Medicaid. Private insurance paid for 51 percent of all births, and 35 percent of infant deaths were to mothers with deliveries covered by private insurance.
• The percentage of births with adequate prenatal care declined slightly from 74.7 in 2023 to 73.9 percent in 2024. The percentage of births with no prenatal care rose from 2.6 percent in 2023 to 3.1 percent in 2024.

ADPH programs focus on the reduction of infant deaths and include these initiatives:

• To address limited access to prenatal care in rural counties, ADPH is collaborating with medical providers to offer prenatal services to low-risk women at county health departments through telehealth visits, extending to 36 weeks of pregnancy.
• The Well Woman Program encourages healthy living, prevention, and early detection of disease for women ages 15 to 55, leading to healthier pregnancies. The program is available in 11 counties for fiscal year 2026, offering preconception, interconception, and postconception care.
• ALL Babies has expanded to statewide coverage for pregnant women without other insurance who meet the program's income guidelines.
• Nurses from the Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Program, based in five major delivery hospitals, review most fetal and all infant deaths. Case summaries are presented to a regional multi-disciplinary committee to identify the cause of death and explore ways to prevent future ones.

To help prevent sleep-related infant deaths, the Cribs for Kids program provides cribs to families lacking a safe sleep environment for their babies. In the past four years, the program has supplied approximately 4,000 cribs at no cost to families.

The Clear the Crib Challenge was launched in 2023 to reduce the risk of sudden infant deaths and suffocation. This social media campaign encourages participants to clear a crib of all items except a firm mattress, fitted sheet, and the baby. The campaign promotes sharing the ABCs of safe sleep-alone, back, crib.

Additional programs include the Count the Kicks phone app to track fetal kicks, increased education on how sexually transmitted diseases affect pregnancies and newborns, promotion of car seat safety, and participation in the WIC Program to enhance nutrition for infants and young children. WIC is a supplemental nutrition program for pregnant women, breastfeeding women, women who had a baby within the last six months, infants, and children under the age of 5.

State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said, "Many factors contribute to infant mortality, including race, poverty, education, housing, nutrition, and access to care. Racial disparities remain in birth outcomes; the Black infant mortality rate is more than twice the rate for white infants. Maternal health conditions such as diabetes and hypertension are linked to higher preterm births. We are hopeful that by following evidence-based practices, we will save lives."

Graphs and detailed charts are available at the ADPH website at Infant Mortality Alabama 2024.

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11/13/25