Birth Defects Tracking and Prevention: Too Many States Are Not Making the Grade
This report concludes that most states are doing a poor job of tracking and preventing birth defects, which are the number one cause of infant mortality in the United States. Birth defects account for almost 20 percent of all infant deaths each year. The report gives each of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, a letter grade based on their efforts to monitor and research birth defects.
Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) report says most states are doing a poor job of tracking and preventing birth defects, which are the #1 cause of infant mortality in the United States. Birth defects account for almost 20% of all infant deaths each year.
The report – Birth Defects Tracking and Prevention: Too Many States Are Not Making the Grade – was authored by TFAH and released February 20, 2002. The report gives each of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, a letter grade based on their efforts to monitor and research birth defects. Only eight states receive an A, although even they need improvement, the report says. More than half the states received a C, a D or an F.
| State | Grade | State | Grade | State | Grade |
| Alabama | B | Kentucky | B | North Dakota* | F |
| Alaska | B | Louisiana | D | Ohio | F |
| Arizona | B | Maine | D | Oklahoma | A |
| Arkansas | A | Maryland | C | Oregon | F |
| California | A | Massachusetts | A | Pennsylvania | D |
| Colorado | B | Michigan | C | Puerto Rico | C |
| Connecticut | C | Minnesota | D | Rhode Island | D |
| Delaware | C | Mississippi | D | South Carolina | B |
| District of Columbia | F | Missouri | B | South Dakota | F |
| Florida | B | Montana | D | Tennessee | C |
| Georgia | A | Nebraska | B | Texas | A |
| Hawaii | A | Nevada | C | Utah | C |
| Idaho | F | New Hampshire | D | Vermont | F |
| Illinois | B | New Jersey | B | Virginia | B |
| Indiana | D | New Mexico | B | Washington | D |
| Iowa | A | New York | B | West Virginia | C |
| Kansas* | F | North Carolina | C | Wisconsin | D |
| Wyoming | F |
Note: States marked with an asterisk (*) have vital records reporting only.