THURSDAY, Sept. 12, 2024 (HealthDay News) — The fetal mortality rate in the United States in 2022 was 5.48 fetal deaths at 20 weeks of gestation or more per 1,000 live births and fetal deaths, which marked a historic low, according to the Sept. 12 National Vital Statistics Reports, a publication from the National Center for Health Statistics.

Elizabeth C.W. Gregory, M.P.H., from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues presented 2022 fetal mortality data by maternal race and Hispanic origin, age, tobacco use during pregnancy, and state of residence.

The researchers found that in the United States, 20,202 fetal deaths at 20 weeks of gestation or more were reported in 2022, for a fetal mortality rate of 5.48 fetal deaths per 1,000 live births and fetal deaths. This was 4 percent lower than the rate of 5.73 in 2021 and marked a new historic low for the United States. For deaths occurring at 20 to 27 weeks of gestation, the fetal mortality rate in 2022 was 2.79, which was 5 percent lower than 2.95 in 2021. The rate in 2022 was 2.71 for deaths occurring at 28 weeks of gestation or more, which marked a 3 percent decline from 2.80 in 2021. The fetal mortality rate in 2022 was highest for Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander non-Hispanic and Black non-Hispanic females (10.36 and 10.05, respectively) and lowest for Asian non-Hispanic females (3.70).

“Fetal mortality rates were highest for women ages 40 and older, for women who smoked during pregnancy, and for women with multiple gestation pregnancies,” the authors write.

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