Ellington

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — State health officials say Mississippi's infant mortality rate is declining.

Mississippi State Department of Health says in a news release that in 2012, the state's infant mortality rate was 8.8 per 1,000 live births, compared to 9.4 in 2011. The reports shows 9.6 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2010; 10 in 2009; 9.9 in 2008; 10.1 in 2007; 10.5 in 2006; and 11.4 in 2005.

Health officials say the teen (ages 15-19) birth rate has declined from 2008 through 2012. In 2012 Mississippi's teen birth rate was 46 births per 1,000 teens, compared to 65.6 in 2008.

They say while Mississippi's infant mortality rate is on the decline, the state remains above the 2010 national average of 6.15 deaths per 1,000 live births.