Random chart - infant mortality

'Our infant mortality rate is a national embarrassment' has a good article on U.S. infant mortality.  After an obligatory side trip to bemoan the fact that "... Despite healthcare spending levels that are significantly higher than any other country in the world, a baby born in the U.S. is less likely to see his first birthday than one born in Hungary, Poland or Slovakia. Or in Belarus. Or in Cuba, for that matter..." (Note: while perfectly true, not particularly relevant to this issue!) it gets on to what really is the root cause: