Some good news! The Post reports that D.C.’s infant mortality rate is down:

Of 9,156 children born in the District in 2010, 73 died before their first birthday, a rate of 8 per 1,000 births, according to the latest data available.

The District’s infant mortality rate was one of the worst among large U.S. cities, peaking in 1989 at 23.1 per 1,000 births. The rate fell to 13.1 in 2007 and declined steadily for each of the following three years. Although it is still higher than the national infant mortality rate of 6.1, it is lower than rates in Baltimore (11), Richmond (13.5) and Detroit (12.8), D.C. officials said.

This is partly attributed to the decreasing teen birth rate, better medical care, and a sharp drop in infant mortality for black and Latina mothers, who historically have higher rates of infant deaths.

Photo by Michael @ NW Lens via Flickr/Creative Commons Attribution Generic 2.0 License