When births at less than 24 weeks were excluded, the U.S. infant mortality rate dropped from 6.1 to 4.2 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2010 (Figure 2). The U.S. infant mortality rate (excluding births at less than 24 weeks) of 4.2 was about twice the rate for Finland, Sweden, and Denmark, the countries with the lowest rates. Compared with the U.S. rate, infant mortality rates were lower for 9 of the 11 European countries; the rate for both Poland and Northern Ireland was higher at 4.5.