PUBLIC HEALTH, NURSING AND MEDICAL SOCIAL WORK
CURRENT STATUS OF BIRTH, DEATH AND INFANT MORTALITY RATES
Editors: MYRON E. WEGMAN, M.D..
ON THE basis of provisional data it appears that infant mortality in the United States has continued to improve in 1951, despite the fact that the birth rate has gone up again. The National Office of Vital Statistics, Public Health Service, has published in the Monthly Vital Statistics Bulletin for February 1952 an analysis of the telegraphic reports received from the various states for the year 1951. While the data are subject to correction [See Figure 1. in Source PDF.] and final figures will almost surely result in slight revisions, previous experience indicates that the general trend is quite accurate.
Figure 1 presents the month by month comparison, throughout the year, for birth rate, death rate, and infant mortality rate. Marriage license rate is shown through November 1951. It will be noted that in every month of the year the birth rate was higher than in the corresponding month of 1950. The annual rate was 24.5 per 1000 population, 4.3% higher than in 1950 but 5% lower than the peak birth rate reached in 1947. Taking into account an estimate for births which were not reported it is thought that 3,833,000 births took place in 1951. This is the greatest number of births in one year in the history of our country.
