The state of South Dakota's child: 2007

The year 2006 brought a 4 percent increase in births to the state that was almost entirely attributed to an increase in white newborns. The rate of low birth weight births decreased for newborns weighing less than 1,500 grams but increased for those weighing 1,500 to 2,500 grams. The state's rate of low birth weight, however, remained less than the persistently climbing U.S. rate. The incidence of prenatal care beginning in the last trimester of pregnancy, or no prenatal care, increased and is of concern in light of recent findings from a South Dakota report that shows how failure to receive this care is related to infant mortality. The state's overall infant mortality rate decreased from its 2005 rate. This decrease is attributable to a decrease in the rate of neonatal deaths for the state's white population. Rates of neonatal death increased for the minority population and post-neonatal mortality increased for both the white and minority population. How these findings are related to social and economic disparities is discussed.