Infant Mortality Rate – Alabama

State’s rate of infant deaths hits lowest point in history, By Markeshia Ricks, August 19, 2010, Montgomery Advertiser: “Alabama’s infant-mortality rate has dropped from a 10-year high in 2007 to the lowest in its history in 2009, State Health Of­ficer Donald Williamson said Wednesday. Williamson believes part of the reason the number of babies who die during their first year of life is down is related to the economy. Alabama’s infant-mortality rate stands at 8.2 deaths per 1,000 live births according to numbers released Wednesday, down significantly from a high of 10 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2007, though still well above the national rate of 6.5. Alabama had 513 infant deaths in 2009, which was also the fewest number of babies to die in the state since tracking began more than a century ago. The number of infant deaths in 2009 was 99 fewer than in 2008, according to the state Depart­ment of Public Health…”