Daily HealthBeat Tip

Healthier babies

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

America is a lot better on one measure of how our babies are doing � but not on another.

We're doing better against infant mortality � not surviving the first year. The America's Children report says the infant mortality rate dropped from 7 percent to 6.8 percent.

The annual federal report says, though, that the rate of low-birthweight babies rose to 8.1 percent from 7.9 percent.

These babies face a higher risk of infant mortality. But the director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Dr. Duane Alexander, says improved medical care helps them survive.

He says women can help to prevent low birthweight by such things as getting prenatal medical care.

"They can also do other things to lower their risk of low birthweight � avoiding alcohol, avoiding smoking themselves, or secondhand tobacco smoke." (seven seconds)

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: September 29, 2006

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