Between October 18–21, this website will move to a new web address (from health.gov to odphp.health.gov). During that time, some functions might not work as expected. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we’re working to make this transition as smooth as possible.

Infants

Goal: Improve the health and safety of infants.

Nearly 4 million infants are born in the United States each year.1 Healthy People 2030 focuses on keeping infants safe and healthy through the first year of life.

Keeping infants healthy starts with making sure women get high-quality care during pregnancy and improving women’s health in general. After birth, strategies that focus on increasing breastfeeding rates and promoting vaccinations and developmental screenings are key to improving infants’ health. Interventions that encourage safe sleep practices and correct use of car seats can also help keep infants safe.

The infant mortality rate in the United States is higher than in other high-income countries,2 and there are major disparities by race/ethnicity. Addressing social determinants of health is critical for reducing these disparities.

Objective Status

  • 2 Target met or exceeded
  • 5 Improving
  • 6 Little or no detectable change
  • 2 Getting worse
  • 0 Baseline only
  • 2 Developmental
  • 0 Research

Learn more about objective types

References

1.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). Births and Natality. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/births.htm

2.

Chen, A., Oster, E., & Williams, H. (2016). Why is Infant Mortality Higher in the United States than in Europe? American Economic Journal. Economic Policy, 8(2), 89-124. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20140224