U.S. Stillbirth Rate Falls 2%, but Nearly 20,000 Losses Still Reported

Key TakeawaysThe U.S. stillbirth rate fell 2% in 2024But about 20,000 fetal deaths still occurredExperts say early prenatal care and stronger maternal health systems are needed to continue progress.FRIDAY, Dec. 5, 2025 (HealthDay News) — The U.S. stillbirth rate dropped slightly last year, offering some hope after several years of uncertainty, according to new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).The report, released Dec. 3, found a 2% decline in stillbirths in 2024. Even with that improvement, nearly 20,000 pregnancies ended in fetal death. That's equal to about 5.4 stillbirths for every 1,000 pregnancies lasting 20 weeks or longer.This is the lowest national rate seen in decades, although the CDC said that it does not necessarily break previous records.The stillbirth rate in the United States has slowly improved over time, falling from 7.5 per 1,000 pregnancies in 1990, but progress has not been steady. Rates rose during the pandemic and have fluctuated slightly year to year since.Much of the improvement last year came from three states: Colorado with a 14% decrease, Utah with a 16% decrease and Mississippi with a 21% decrease.Even with its progress, Mississippi still holds the highest stillbirth rate of any state: 7.8 per 1,000. Its state leaders have already declared a public health emergency over infant health and are working to expand access to maternal care, especially in areas without hospitals.Health experts say the improvement is encouraging, but numbers are still far too high."Stillbirths affect just as many families as do infant deaths each year," Ashley Stoneburner of March of Dimes told CNN. "It’s a really large problem, and a lot of the risk factors that we see for infant mortality, especially very early infant deaths, are the same that we see for babies that are born still."Risk factors for stillbirth can include diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, stress, substance use and environmental exposures such as extreme heat or pollution.“There’s a lot of socioeconomic factors that increase the risk for stillbirth as well, and those are things like lack of access to health care or belonging to a certain ethnic minority groups,” Stoneburner added.The CDC also found that mothers who are Black, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander experience stillbirth rates close to 10 fetal deaths per 1,000 pregnancies, double the rate seen among white, Hispanic or Asian mothers.To address the problem, the National Institutes of Health launched a $37 million research initiative this year focused on preventing stillbirth. Research shows that about 40% of stillbirths may be preventable, yet many remain unexplained.More informationThe Cleveland Clinic has more on stillbirth.SOURCE: CNN, Dec. 2, 2025.What This Means For YouWhile the decline is encouraging, experts say more prenatal support and access to care are needed to lower stillbirth risk, especially for high-risk groups..Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter