| Abstract: | We previously reported that almost one third of the potential for reduction (PFR) in infant mortality in Georgia would result from reduction in mortality of normal birthweight infants. To determine where reductions were made in the past and where gaps remain, we examined trends from 1960 to 1980-82 in cause-specific mortality for normal birthweight infants by race. In the neonatal period, mortality was reduced by 66% for white infants, 76% for black infants. In the postneonatal period, overall reductions were smaller than in the neonatal period, 50% for white and 71% for black infants. The majority of the remaining gap resulted from excess mortality in the infection, injury, and Sudden Infant Death categories. The widest gaps in infant mortality exists in the postneonatal period. There is a 12% potential for reduction in the black infant mortality rate if interventions directed at the normal birthweight infant in the postneonatal period are emphasized. |
