Session 1 Infant Mortality

The data around infant morality in Asia really interested me since lately I've heard so many stories about stillbirths and disporportionate rates of infant mortality among certain groups in the United States. I learned that of the top five countries with the lowest infant mortality rates, three of them are in Asia: Singapore, Japan, and Hong Kong. These three places had a rate of 2-3 deaths per per 1,000 live births. The infant mortality rate in the U.S. is more than twice that with 6.2 deaths per live birth. This data made me really interested in what specifically accounts for the difference in outcomes for infants. Is the low infant mortality rate in Signapore, Japan, and Hong Kong due to better pre-birth care, better hospital deliverty practices, or something else?