Rate of American babies dying before their first birthdays increases for the first time in 20 years

The Biden administration announced another bleak signal for life in the United States this week. The rate accounting for the number of babies to die before their first birthdays jumped 3% in 2022 — the first year-to-year increase since 2002, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC indicated that the infant mortality rate was 5.44 in 2021. Last year, the rate was 5.6. The total number of reported infant deaths in 2022 was 20,538, up 610 from the previous year.

Referencing infant birth and death certificates collected from all states and the District of Columbia by the National Center for Health Statistics, the CDC concluded there were increases from 2021 to 2022 more or less across the board. Some of the most significant increases were seen among baby boys, whose mortality rate leaped from 5.83 deaths per 1,000 to 6.06; among premature babies, those who had been in the womb for fewer than 37 weeks and 34 weeks; and among infants of women ages 25-29.

For babies under a month old, the mortality rate increased 3%, from 3.49 to 3.58. For post-neonatal babies, there was a 4% increase, from 1.95 to 2.02.

There were also increases in mortality rates for babies of all races, except for Asians, who saw a decrease from 3.69 to 3.5.

Over 30 states saw rises in the number of babies who didn't make it to their first birthdays.

The top five causes of death provided, in order, were congenital malformations; short gestation and low birth weight; sudden infant death syndrome; accidents; and maternal complications of pregnancy. Among the causes, there were glaring year-over-year increases in the number of deaths by "maternal complications" and bacterial sepsis, 9% and 14%, respectively.

Dr. Eric Eichenwald, a Philadelphia-based neonatologist, told the Associated Press the data was "disturbing," suggesting that experts can presently only speculate as to the cause behind the sharp increase in infant mortality.

Sandy Chung, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told CNN, "The infant mortality rate in this country in unacceptable."

Chung intimated that race and poverty might be factors.

"We know that for people who live in or near poverty and for certain racial and ethnic groups there are significant challenges with getting access to a doctor or getting treatments," said Chung, "This can lead to moms and babies showing up for care when they are sicker and more likely have serious outcomes, even death."

Rachel Hardeman, a leftist professor of health who refers to pregnant mothers as "birthing people," was more explicit in her speculation, suggesting racism and marginalization were might be to blame even though most racial groups saw spikes in infant mortality.

Tracey Wilkinson, an associate professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine, suggested to ABC News that what may have instead driven the increases in infant deaths were post-Roe limits on abortion.

"Any pregnancy that is intended and planned tends to be a healthier outcome and healthy infant outcome," said Wilkinson. "So when you remove the ability for people to decide if and when to have families and continue pregnancies, ultimately, you are having more pregnancies continue that don't have all those factors in place."

Pat Gabbe, a clinical professor of pediatrics at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, told NBC News one factor may have been that mothers did not receive proper medical care on account of pandemic protocols.

"Every time we've measured infant mortality, it has trended down, and what’s changed? COVID. It's disrupted all the community support we developed that helped women access prenatal care," said Gabbe.

The infant mortality rate is not the only concerning metric to be released in recent months.

In March, the Journal of the American Medical Association published research that revealed the mortality rate for minors ages 1 through 19 jumped by nearly 20% between 2019 and 2021 — a spike that could not reportedly be attributed to the COVID-19 virus.

Between 2019 and 2021, the mortality rate for youths ages 1 through 19 increased by 10.7%. For the same demographic, the mortality rate jumped an additional 8.3% between 2020 and 2021.

The researchers noted that "this reversal in the pediatric mortality trajectory was caused not by COVID-19, but by injuries."

While the CDC has yet to release its estimates for 2022, it indicated last summer that the life expectancy for the U.S. population dropped in 2021 to its lowest in over two decades.

Blaze News reported that the data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics indicated that men can expect to live 73.2 years, down from 74.2 years in 2020. Women can expect to live 79.1 years, down from 79.9 two years ago. This 5.9-year delta between life expectancy for men and women is the highest it has been in over 25 years.

COVID-19 deaths accounted for half of the negative contributions of cause-specific death rates to the decline that occurred from 2020 to 2021.

Among the other negative contributions to the decline were unintentional injuries (14.9%); heart disease (4.1%); chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (3%); and suicide (2.1%).

Not only have mortality rates spiked and life expectancy dropped, but Americans now stand a better chance than ever before of dying alone. Whereas in 1960 just 13% of American households had a single occupant, that number has nearly trebled such that 26 million Americans 50 or older may face aging and death alone.

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