Infant mortality is defined as the death of an infant less than 1-year-old.  The rate of infant mortality is the annual number of deaths of infants under one year of age, per 100,000 population of infants under one year of age.

In Pierce County, the rate and incidents of infant mortality is higher than counties like ours and across the state as a whole.  In 2009, the rate of 767.58 infant deaths per 100,000 in Pierce County means that one child dies during the first year of life for every 130 live births.  While we do show the actual number of infant deaths, keep in mind that population differences when comparing