Detroit Sees Steep Decline In Infant Mortality Rate, Duggan Says

DETROIT — Detroit has seen a historic drop in its infant mortality rate, with officials this week reporting that the rate of babies born in the city that do not live to see their first birthday is the lowest it has been in decades.

Detroit’s infant mortality rate plunged from 16.7 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2018 to 11 per 1,000 live births in 2019, representing a one-third rate reduction — the steepest drop the city has seen in more than 20 years, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Michigan's leading health officer, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, said Wednesday.

"From the time I came in (into office), I was extremely focused on reducing the infant mortality rate in this city," Duggan said in a news conference this week. "It has been extraordinarily high for a long time, I dealt with it every day for nine years running Hutzel Hospital."

The city also has seen a significant closing of the disparity between black babies and white babies dying before their first birthday, officials said. In 2018 the rate was 18.9 for black babies compared to 6.4 for white babies. In 2019, that gap closed dramatically, with a rate of 12.3 for black babies and 9.7 for white babies, city authorities said.

Duggan and Khaldun credited an effort between a wide group of government, private health care and nonprofit organizations that have worked to improve the odds of survival for babies born in Detroit.

“We won’t know for certain all of the factors that led to the reduction in infant mortality in 2019, but want to make sure all Detroit moms-to-be get transportation,” Duggan said.

Duggan also credited Khaldun for a plan she launched in 2017 when she was Detroit's public health director to team up with Wayne State University's Make Your Data program.