Thanks for the comments on my post. I would like to clarify a few things.

First, I made a typo the 15/1000 is from 1988, the rate was 9.2 in 1989 a
six point drop in one year (From the Center for Health Statistics). Since
the study was published in 1989, I preferred to use pre-1989 data as a
source of reference.

Second, I am not making a statement that bottle-feeding is not a cause of
infant mortality only that 4/1000 is not a likely rate for the US as a
whole at this point in time. It is likely much lower and I was attempting
to make an educated guess at a rate that more realistically reflects the
likely impact- I think between 0.5/1000 and 1/1000. Valerie's statement
that it may be as high as 4/1000 in the African American segment of the
population is right on.

Third, we must remember that some of the infants who die are breastfed. If
all babies were breastfed, I doubt the rate would fall below 6 without
other changes.

Last,  while it is clear that feeding method is related to infant mortality
in the US in 2001, it is a contributing cause that is very difficult to
identify due to small numbers, poor recordkeeping regarding feeding method
for deceased children and the myriad of confounding variables. Cathy

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