The U.S. fetal mortality rate in 2020 remained relatively unchanged from 2019, reaching 5.74 deaths at 20 weeks of gestation or more per 1,000 live births and fetal deaths. In 2019, the country saw a record-low rate of 5.70 deaths per 1,000.
According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “fetal death” is an all-inclusive term that refers to an intrauterine death of a fetus that is not an induced termination of pregnancy. Fetal mortality can occur at any gestational age, and researchers call it “a major but often overlooked public health issue.”
Overall in 2020, there were 20,854 fetal deaths in the U.S. at 20 weeks or more of gestation – the threshold at which most states require the reporting of such deaths – which marks a 3% decline from 2019. The country’s fetal mortality rate has fallen 23% since 1990.
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander mothers had the highest fetal mortality rate in 2020 at 10.59 deaths per 1,000, according to the most recent CDC data. Asian individuals had the lowest rate at 3.93 deaths per 1,000, while Black individuals had a rate of 10.34, American Indian or Alaska Native persons had a rate of 7.84, and Hispanics had a rate of 4.86. The fetal mortality rate among whites was 4.73.
Here are the 10 states that saw the highest rates of fetal death in 2020 at 20 weeks or more of gestation, as well as the number of fetal deaths that occurred in each state that year.
Because of potential issues tied to varied reporting requirements and the reliability of rates based on a smaller number of deaths, also included are each states’ rates of fetal death at 24 or more weeks of gestation for the combined years of 2018 to 2020, as included in the CDC report.