Infant mortality can be defined as the death of a child under the age of one. Infant mortality can be due to an array of factors ranging from accidental deaths to deaths due to harm inflicted on the child. In the United States data has shown that two-thirds of infant deaths occur before the infant is even 28 days old which is called neonatal mortality. One-third of the remaining deaths occur between 28 days and under 1 year old. Neonatal mortality is mainly attributed to causes relating to short gestation and low birth weights. Things such as SIDS, congenital malformations and unintentional injuries are causes that are considered post neonatal.
The infant mortality rate for the United States as of 2011 was 23, 910 deaths, this is 6.05 deaths per 1,000. Although the infant mortality rate has decreased since 2005 it is still fairly high, especially for a first world country. The sad truth is although there are ways to prevent infant mortality it is still occurring very frequently. A variety of different reasons can be attributed to infant mortality. I chose to look at why infant mortality rates are so high in the United States as well as how infant mortality varies among races. Some of the major causes of infant mortality in the United States are as followed maternal care, socioeconomic status, and race.
Currently the United States is 169 out of the total 224 in infant mortality compared to other countries, with 1 being the worst. As stated before there are ways that we can prevent infant mortality so that it is less common. Being a first world country we have a variety of resources to help prevent infant mortality. Some of the ways that we can reduce infant mortality is by providing proper care for the infant during pregnancy, pr...
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...to find ways to reduce it even more. Many of the reasons for infants being born with problems that cause infant mortality are due to things that can be prevented. Good maternal care is one of the biggest ways to prevent infant mortality.
One of the biggest ways infant mortality affects the population is by risk of overpopulation. With the decrease infant mortality the world runs a risk of overpopulation. The more infants that survive past their first birthdays and become adults the more people we have in the world and the more resources we are using. One of the positive things with infant mortality decreasing is that we will have many youth for the future. If our infant mortality rates were increasing rather than decreasing it could cause a problem later in life. If we don’t have a children that will later become adults this could cause issues for us later in life.
First, I will give out some statistics of infant mortality rates in America. According to an Amnesty International report, two maternal deaths occur every day for African-American women. Even though 99% of birth-related deaths happen in developing countries, these numbers for African American women in a country with world renowned health facilities are discouraging.
O'Connor, P. (2008, October 18). US infant mortality rate now worse than 28 other countries. Retrieved June 9, 2010, from World Socialist Web Site: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/oct2008/mort-o18.shtml
In the United States, approximately 2 million children are living with life threatening conditions and 18,000 new born die within the first 28 days of life due to prematurity/immaturity, infection, and congenital anomalies annually (Thibeau 2012). Globally 450 newborns die every hour (Eden 2010).
Neonatal nursing is a field of nursing designed especially for both newborns and infants up to 28 days old. The term neonatal comes from neo, "new", and natal, "pertaining to birth or origin”. Neonatal nurses are a vital part of the neonatal care team. These are trained professionals who concentrate on ensuring that the newborn infants under their care are able to survive whatever potential life threatening event they encounter. They treat infants that are born with a variety of life threatening issues that include instances of prematurity, congenital birth defects, surgery related problems, cardiac malformations, severe burns, or acute infection. Neonatal care in hospitals was always done by the nursing staff but it did not officially become a specialized medical field until well into 1960s. This was due to the numerous advancements in both medical care training and related technology that allowed for the improved treatment and survival rate of premature babies. According to the March of Dimes, one of every thirteen babies born in the United States annually suffers from low birth weight. This is a leading cause in 65% of infant deaths. Therefore, nurses play a very important role in providing round the clock care for these infants, those born with birth defects or other life threatening illness. In addition, these nurses also tend to healthy babies while their mothers recover from the birthing process. Prior to the advent of this specialized nursing field at risk newborn infants were mostly cared for by obstetricians and midwives who had limited resources to help them survive (Meeks 3).
Two-thirds of infants die during the first month of life due to low birth weight (Lia-Hoagberg et al, 1990). One reason for this outcome is primarily due to difficulties in accessing prenatal care. Prenatal health care encompasses the health of women in both pre and post childbearing years and provides the support for a healthy lifestyle for the mother and fetus and/or infant. This form of care plays an important role in the prevention of poor birth outcomes, such as prematurity, low birth weight and infant mortality, where education, risk assessment, treatment of complications, and monitoring of fetus development are vital (McKenzie, Pinger,& Kotecki, 2012). Although every woman is recommended to receive prenatal health care, low-income and disadvantaged minority women do not seek care due to structural and individual barriers.
In 1960 America was ranked 12th in the infant mortality rate among all other nations in the World and by 2005 we were ranked 30th. The United States distributes more vaccines to infants t...
In the article of “Advocates for Health MDGs Unite to Demand World Leaders Honor Funding Commitments” (July 21, 2009), PHR is calling on the convening of the UN General Assembly Governments committed themselves to immediately stop the worldwide women die in pregnancy and childbirth at an alarming rate. In the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) High-Level Meeting on September 25 in advance, International Initiative partners PHR and maternal mortality and human rights issued a call on governments to focus the fifth goal, and one has seen the least progress - maternal
Prematurity.(2009). Retrieved July 10, 2010, from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Website: http://www.cdc.gov/features/prematurebirth/
Infant mortality is considered a worldwide indicator of a nation’s health status. The United States still ranks 24th in infant mortality compared with other industrialized nations, even though infant mortality has declined steadily over the past several decades. Compared with the national average in 1996 of 7.2 deaths per 1,000 live births, the largest disparity is among blacks with a death rate of 14.2 per 1,000 in 1996 which is almost 2½ times that of white infants (6 deaths per 1,000 in 1996). American Indians as a whole have an infant death rate of 9 deaths per 1,000 in 1995, but some Indian communities have an infant mortality rate almost twice that of the national rate. The same applies to the Hispanic community, whose rate of 7.6 deaths per 1,000 births in 1995 doesn’t reflect the Puerto Rican community, whose rate was 8.9 deaths per 1,000 births in 1995.
Each year, an estimated 529 000 maternal deaths occur. This number comes from calculations for the year 2000, the most recent date for such crude data (Zahr & Wardlaw, 2004). And while many women report holding the newborn in their arms for the first time, forgetting the frustrations of pregnancy and considering the hardships worthwhile, the fact remains: pregnancy remains one of the most risky and unpleasant things a women can expect to
Since 1960 child mortality rates have dropped substantially. In 1960 the worldwide child mortality rate for children under 5 years old was 1 billion compared to 6.6 million in 2012, *Citation. Sadly in 2012 nearly 1800 children died worldwide every day before reaching their 5th birthday*citation. In more recent years it was found that the rate has been cut in half since the 1990’s. Evidence and trends suggests that poorer, undeveloped countries such as; China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan. The countries of India and Nigeria making up at least 1/3 of the childhood mortality rate in the world today. While it’s evident that these third world countries have some of the highest rates for child mortality and for obvious reasons, a look at the causes behind childhood mortality provide useful information for the improvement and prevention of childhood mortality rates in all countries. A variety of causes contribute to the reasons of child fatality. Anywhere from high population rate and low economic stability; to get to the bottom of this worldwide epidemic I feel it necessary to explore these reasons
Statistics show the impact that preemies are causing as the rate of preterm birth increases every day. Any part of the world is affected no matter how advanced they are in technology. “One of every eight infants born in the United States is premature babies” (Medline Plus). These statistics are extremely high, however people can change it by getting involved in the community and helping preemies have a less chance to lose in their battle for life. In 2003; 499,008 infants were born prematurely (National Center for Health Statistics). The rates of preterm births have increased over the years. "In 1995: 11.0% of live births were born preterm, In 2006: 12.8% of live births were born preterm"(March of Dimes-Peristats). As the numbers keep increasing, many families are suffering and losing hope for they’re babies. African American women have the highest rate of preterm birth in 2004 with a 17.6% (Reedy, 2007). These statistics demonstrate the high frequenc...
Poor child births outcome cause greater mortality risks, and higher odds of poor future health. This paper will study the statistical data regarding the suggested number of prenatal case visits as considered in healthy birth outcomes. It is estimated that every year almost 4 million U.S. women give birth, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and that nearly one-third of them will experience some type of pregnancy related problems. This is primarily relevant in the U.S., which has one of the highest infant mortality rates among 18 developed nations. The lack of prenatal care for women who are unable to financially afford it, or don’t see the need of it, is mainly to blame for the thousands of low birthweight babies born in the U.S. every year.
Lawn, Joy E., Simon Cousen, and Jelk Zupan. “4 million neonatal deaths: when, where, why.” Lancet 365,9462 (2005): 891-900. 03 Oct. 2013.
Preterm birth is defined as ‘any neonate whose birth occurs before the thirty seventh week of gestation’1 and represents approximately eight percent of all pregnancies1-4. It is eminent that these preterm infants are at risk of physical and neurological delay, with prolonged hospitalisation and an increased risk of long-term morbidity evident in prior literature3, 5-13. Innovative healthcare over the past thirty years has reduced mortality significantly14, with the survival rate of preterm infants having increased from twenty five percent in 1980 to seventy three percent in 200715. Despite, this drop in mortality long-term morbidity continues to remain within these surviving infants sparking a cause for concern15, 16.