Newborn Baby
Infant Mortality
Historical Viewpoint
In terms of an historical viewpoint, the following
reflects the changes in the rate of infant mortality per 1,000 births
that have occurred since the 1950’s:
Year 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Rate 152 136 100 83 65 57
In order to define some relative
meaning to these figures, it is worth noting that, throughout
ancient history, from the beginning of
recorded human history in the Old World until the Early Middle Ages in
Europe, the
prevailing rate of infant mortality was of the order of approximately
200 deaths per 1,000 live births. Furthermore, in the case of the under
5’s, the rate rose dramatically to around 300 deaths per 1,000 live
births.
Rate
The
infant mortality rate, or IMR, refers to the number of newborns
(defined as being less than one year old) who die, divided by the
number of live births that occurs during that year, and multiplied by
1,000. Sometimes, the IMR is referred to as the infant death rate which
is defined as the number of deaths recorded in the first year of life
for every 1000 live births.
In the past, as shown in the table
above, infant mortality represented a significant percentage of children born. However, in terms of Western
societies, the rate has shown a significant decline due, in most part,
to improvements in basic health care, although advances in medical
technology have also played a part. Infant mortality rate is often
included as a part of the standard of living evaluations (which is a
measure of such factors as inflation adjusted income per person, and
the poverty rate).
Since the IMR appears in reports as
the number of live newborns, under the age of one, dying per 1,000 live
births, then it is possible to compare the rate pertaining to different
countries.
Rate Comparison
The infant mortality
rate is a strong indicator and one of the best predictors of state
failure (which describes a state generally
perceived as not having delivered in terms of some of the basic
responsibilities of government). IMR correlates well with
a country's level of health or development, and is one of the elements
in the physical quality of life index
(which tries to measure the well-being of a country. The value of the
index is the average of three components: basic literacy rate, infant
mortality, and life expectancy at the age of one year).
However, the way in
which IMR is calculated often varies considerably between countries in
terms of the way each defines a live birth and how many premature
infants are born in that country. The World Health Organisation, or
WHO, offers the definition of a live birth as any human birth that
demonstrates independent signs of life, such as breathing, voluntary
muscle movement, or heartbeat.
To complicate matters,
a number of countries, such as certain European states together with
Japan,
only count as live births those cases in which an infant breathes at
birth. As a result, this means that their reported IMR statistics are
somewhat lower than would be expected whilst, at the same time,
increasing their rates of perinatal mortality.
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