Tennessee’s infant mortality rate has dipped since 2019 but remains significantly and persistently higher than the national average, a new report published by the state’s health department found.
Black families in Tennessee continue to experience the heartbreak of losing a baby in the first year of life at twice the rate of white families, a stubborn disparity linked to maternal health, preterm births and access to prenatal care, among other factors.
West Tennessee had some of the highest rates of infant mortality: 9.7 deaths per 1,000 live births. Knox County had the lowest at 3.4 deaths per 1,000 live births…