State of South Dakota's child: 2014

For the third consecutive year in 2013, South Dakota had a slight increase in the number of resident births and also an increase in their racial diversity with 25 percent represented by minorities. In 2013 there was a slight decrease in very low birth weight with the percent of multiple births remaining stable. Following the previous year's spike in infant deaths, mortality for infants in South Dakota in 2013 returned to a rate (6.5 per 1,000 live births) similar to previous years but was higher than the current national infant mortality rate of 6.0. Within the state, mortality is twice as high for infants of minority races as it is for white infants.