CDC: More women forgo prenatal care

The percentage of mothers who went without prenatal care increased from 2.2% in 2022 to 2.3% in 2023, even as the total number of births fell, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis of birth certificates. The slight increase could result in greater maternal and infant mortality. Fewer than 3.6 million babies were born in the U.S. in 2023, a decrease of 2% from 2022, and a continuation of a decades-long fall in births after a modest increase during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic. (NBC News article, 8/20/24)