Why Was Infant Mortality So High in Eastern England in the Mid Nineteenth Century?

2015 ◽  
pp. 48-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Hinde ◽  
Victoria Fairhurst
Keyword(s):  
Women Workers ◽  
Infant Mortality ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Seasonal Pattern ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Of Life

This paper re-examines the high rates of infant mortality observed in rural areas of eastern England in the early years of civil registration. Infant mortality rates in some rural registration districts in the East Riding of Yorkshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk were higher than those in the mill towns of Lancashire. After describing the areas affected, this paper considers three potential explanations: environmental factors, poor-quality child care associated with the employment of women in agriculture, and the possibility that the high rates were the artefactual consequence of migrant women workers bringing their children to these areas. These explanations are then assessed using a range of evidence. In the absence of reliable cause of death data, recourse is had to three alternative approaches. The first involves the use of the exceptionally detailed tabulations of ages at death within the first year of life provided in the Registrar General's Annual Reports for the 1840s to assess whether the 'excess' infant deaths in rural areas of eastern England happened in the immediate post-natal period or later in the first year of life. Second, data on the seasonality of mortality in the 1840s are examined to see whether the zone of 'excess' infant mortality manifested a distinctive seasonal pattern. Finally, a regression approach is employed involving the addition of covariates to regression models. The conclusion is that no single factor was responsible for the 'excess' infant mortality, but a plausible account can be constructed which blends elements of all three of the potential explanations mentioned above with the specific historical context of these areas of eastern England.

scholarly journals Seasonal variation in infant mortality in India

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aashish Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Infant Mortality ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Demographic And Health Surveys ◽  
First Year ◽  
Survival Status ◽  
Birth Month ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
Health And Mortality

Investigating seasonal variation in health and mortality helps understand disease dynamics and environmental health exposures. Using four available rounds of India's Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), this paper examines seasonality in infant mortality in India. I use information on the birth month-year, survival status within the first year of life, and age (in months) at death (if the infant died) of more than 330,000 children born between 1989 and 2014 to estimate period mortality rates between ages 0 and 1 for each calendar month. Relative to the spring months, infant mortality is higher in the summer, monsoon, and winter months. If the mortality conditions in the spring months were prevalent throughout the year, would have been less by 10.8 deaths per 1,000 infant alive per year in early 1990s and 4.1 deaths per 1,000 per year in the mid-2010s. Seasonal variation in infant mortality is higher among children born in less wealthy households, among children of less educated mothers, in rural areas, and in poorer regions. Although seasonality in infant mortality has attenuated over-time, seasonal variation in the early-childhood disease environment remains a concern, particularly in rural areas. These results highlight the multiple environmental health threats that infants in India face, and the limited period within a year when these threats are less salient.

Urbanization and Differentials in White and Nonwhite Infant Mortality

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1975 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 777-781
Author(s):  
Marion Johnson Chabot ◽  
Joseph Garfinkel ◽  
Margaret W. Pratt
Keyword(s):  
Infant Mortality ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
The United States ◽  
Infant Mortality Rate ◽  
First Year ◽  
Death Rates ◽  
Nonwhite Population ◽  
Annual Total ◽  
First Year Of Life

This study analyzes infant deaths in the United States, 1962 to 1967, by place of residence, to determine to what degree variations in age at death are related to degree of urbanization and race. Results of the study indicate that: (1) after one day of life infant mortality increases progressively as degree of urbanization decreases; (2) the differences between urban and rural death rates are greatest in the posthebdomadal (1 week or older) period; (3) in all age groups at all levels of urbanization, the nonwhite infant is at a marked disadvantage relative to the white infant; (4) the older the infant, the greater the disadvantage for nonwhite infants in rural areas; (5) had the white infant mortality rate prevailed among the nonwhite population over the six-year period from 1962 to 1967 an estimated annual total of 11,597 nonwhite infants would have survived their first year of life; (6) 40% of the excess deaths are in infants under 7 days and 60% in the posthebdomadal period; (7) fetal death rates increase progressively as degree of urbanization decreases, complementing a direct relationship between under 1 day mortality and urbanization resulting in a level trend for perinatal mortality.

PUBLIC HEALTH, NURSING AND MEDICAL SOCIAL WORK

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1950 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 673-675 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Infant Mortality ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vital Statistics ◽  
First Year ◽  
Medical Social Work ◽  
National Office ◽  
Health Nursing ◽  
Set Up ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
Registration Area

CONTINUOUS decline in infant mortality has been maintained in national figures since 1936. Prior to this the preceding 20 years had witnessed a steady downward trend although there had been occasional annual interruptions. Final figures for 1948, issued by The National Office of Vital Statistics in Special Reports, Vol. 35, Number 13, p. 188, August 23, 1950, indicate a total of 113,169 deaths under 1 year of age as having [See Chart I in source pdf.] been registered in the United States. This represents a rate of 32.0 per 1,000 live births, the lowest in our history. Chart 1 indicates the trend in the "Expanding Birth Registration Area" since 1915. In that year the "Area" was set up with 10 states and the District of Columbia. In 1933, with the admission of Texas, the "Area" included all 48 states. Over the 33 year period the decline in total infant mortality has been more than two thirds. The different periods of the first year of life have not, however, shared equally in the decline. The second half of the year has had the most favorable experience with a decline of 85%, while the first day has had the least decline, less than one third.

scholarly journals Analysis of the health status of children of the first year of life

2020 ◽  
pp. 24-32
Author(s):  
R.V. Marushko ◽  
◽  
О.О. Dudina ◽  
T.L. Marushko ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Birth Weight ◽  
Infant Mortality ◽  
Low Birth Weight ◽  
Negative Trend ◽  
Child Health Service ◽  
First Year ◽  
Live Births ◽  
The Past ◽  
First Year Of Life

Ukraine entered the 21st century with one of the worst vital signs in Europe and the burden of many socio-economic and demographic problems. Adverse quantitative and especially qualitative indicators of population reproduction have become stable. Therefore, the most important medical and social task and one of the main activities of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine is the formation and maintenance of public health. The defining stage in the formation of human health is the first year of life. Purpose — to study the state and trends of changes in the main indicators of the health of children in the first year of life for the period 2000–2019. Materials and methods. A retrospective analysis of the incidence of children in the first year of life, infant mortality, over the past 20 years in the context of individual pathological conditions is carried out. The information base of the study was the data of state and industry statistics for 2000–2019. Methods of a systematic approach, statistical data processing, epidemiological analysis of graphic images were used. Results. The study revealed that the unfavorable demographic situation in Ukraine is accompanied by an unsatisfactory state of the main predictors of a healthy start in the life of infants, the formation and maintenance of their health. Over the past two decades, there has been a high level with a negative trend of diseases of the reproductive system of women, a high frequency of the combination of pregnancy and extragenital diseases remains. There is a negative trend towards an increase in the generalized objective criterion of the health of the generation, which is born and the socio-economic well-being of the population — the frequency of premature, low birth weight, incl. With very low birth weight. Only thanks to the introduction of modern medical organizational technologies with proven efficiency in the activities of the maternal and child health service was it possible to achieve a decrease in the incidence of newborns from 280.8 per 1000 live births in 2000 up to 172.14 in 2019. At the same time, the increase in the incidence of newborns with diseases that have a direct impact on the development of chronic and disabling diseases at all stages of life is of concern — congenital pneumonia, neonatal sepsis, other disorders of the cerebral status of the newborn, neonatal jaundice. According to the assessment of the dynamics of the general morbidity of children in the first year of life, its level is still high, with a positive trend — 2018.8 per 1000 children who reached 1 year in 2000 and 1393.1 in 2019, the growth rate is -30.9% with a traditionally leading position in the level and structure of the incidence of respiratory diseases — 810.2 per 1000 children who have reached one year of life and 58.15%, certain conditions occurring in perinatal period — 126.7 ‰ and 9.06%, diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue — 63.9‰ and 4.59%, diseases of the blood and hematopoietic organs and certain disorders involving the immune mechanism — 63.0‰ and 4.52%. Conclusions. The positive dynamics of morbidity in children of the first year of life is confirmed by a decrease in infant mortality from its maximum level of 11.9 per 1000 live births in 2000 up to 7.0 in 2019, the growth rate is -41.2% due to all its components with a more intensive reduction in postneonatal mortality from 5.28‰ to 2.57‰, the growth rate is -51.3% against the background of an increase in the concentration of mortality in the neonatal period from 55.9% to 64.5%, respectively. No conflict of interest was declared by the authors. Key words: newborns, children of the first year of life, low birthweight newborns, morbidity, infant mortality.

scholarly journals Competing effects on the average age of infant death

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Alexander ◽  
Leslie Root
Keyword(s):  
Infant Mortality ◽  
Average Length ◽  
Preterm Births ◽  
The United States ◽  
Infant Mortality Rate ◽  
Approximation Formula ◽  
First Year ◽  
Black Mothers ◽  
White Mothers ◽  
First Year Of Life

In recent decades, the relationship between the average length of life for those who die in the first year of life — the lifetable quantity 1𝑎0 — and the level of infant mortality, on which its calculation is often based, has broken down. The very low levels of infant mortality in the developed world correspond to a range of 1𝑎0 quantities. We illustrate the competing effect of falling mortality and reduction in preterm births on 1𝑎0, through two populations with very different levels of premature birth — infants born to non-Hispanic white mothers and to non- Hispanic black mothers in the United States. Through simulation, we further demonstrate that falling mortality reduces 1𝑎0, while a reduction in premature births increases it. We use these observations to motivate the formulation of a new approximation formula for 1𝑎0 in low- mortality contexts, which is a function of both the infant mortality rate and the ratio of infant to under-five mortality. Model results and validation show that this model outperforms existing alternatives.

INFANT MORTALITY RATES FOR THE TOWN OF SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS, IN 1782 AND 1783

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1966 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 800-800
Author(s):  
T. E. C.
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Infant Mortality ◽  
New England ◽  
The United States ◽  
Infant Mortality Rate ◽  
First Year ◽  
True Index ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
The Town

The infant mortality rate for a single New England town for the years 1782 and 1783 cannot be used as a true index of this statistic for the 13 states which made up the United States during the 1780's. As we lack data concerning infant mortality for the country as a whole during this period, information about the mortality of infants in the town of Salem, Massachusetts, where all births were recorded, should be of interest to pediatricians. Doctor Edward A. Holyoke of Salem in a letter to Mr. Caleb Garnett, the Recording Secretary of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, gave these figures for the town of Salem: In 1782 there were 311 live-born infants and of these 36 died before they reached their first birthday, for an infant mortality rate of 115. In 1783 of 374 live-born infants, 38 died during their first year of life, for an infant mortality of 102. When one recalls that the rate for 1915 in the United States was 100, the infants, at least in Salem, did not fare too badly.

scholarly journals Case-control study on infant mortality in Southern Brazil

2006 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina Giane Mendes ◽  
Maria Teresa Anselmo Olinto ◽  
Juvenal Soares Dias da Costa
Keyword(s):  
Multivariate Analysis ◽  
Infant Mortality ◽  
Case Control Study ◽  
Neonatal Period ◽  
Case Control ◽  
Infant Mortality Rate ◽  
First Year ◽  
Southern Brazil ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
Control Study

OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factors associated with infant mortality and, more specifically, with neonatal mortality. METHODS: A case-control study was carried out in the municipality of Caxias do Sul, Southern Brazil. Characteristics of prenatal care and causes of mortality were assessed for all live births in the 2001-2002 period with a completed live-birth certificate and whose mothers lived in the municipality. Cases were defined as all deaths within the first year of life. As controls, there were selected the two children born immediately after each case in the same hospital, who were of the same sex, and did not die within their first year of life. Multivariate analysis was performed using conditional logistic regression. RESULTS: There was a reduction in infant mortality, the greatest reduction was observed in the post-neonatal period. The variables gestational age (<36 weeks), birth weight (<2,500 g), and 5-minute Apgar (<6) remained in the final model of the multivariate analysis, after adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: Perinatal conditions comprise almost the totality of neonatal deaths, and the majority of deaths occur at delivery. The challenge for reducing infant mortality rate in the city is to reduce the mortality by perinatal conditions in the neonatal period.

scholarly journals P157 Modelling the developmental trajectory of infant and child sleep

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. A72-A73
Author(s):  
L Webb ◽  
A Phillips ◽  
J Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Adult Brain ◽  
Infants And Children ◽  
First Year ◽  
Child Sleep ◽  
Sleep Behaviour ◽  
Physiologically Based ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
In Infants And Children

Abstract Introduction Sleep is important for infant and child neurodevelopment, yet there is a lack of mechanistic understanding of what drives the changes in sleep over the early years of life. While sleep in the adult brain has been studied and modelled extensively, very little has been done in infants and children, mainly limited to descriptive studies of sleep behaviour. Methods We adapted an existing, physiologically based model of adult sleep to study infant and child sleep behaviour. We compared modelled sleep behaviour to published data on sleep characteristics over a range of ages, both cross sectional from 0 to 5 years and densely-sampled individual data in the first year of life. We performed Bayesian inference to estimate the likely physiological parameters underpinning population-level diversity in sleep characteristics as a function of age from 0 to 5 years. We also fitted the model to individual sleep architecture in the first year of life. Results The empirically observed decrease in total sleep duration and consolidation of sleep bouts with increasing age are well explained by decreases in the constant inhibitory input to the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus and increases in the characteristic somnogen clearance time during sleep. Further, our model produced realistic sleep-wake dynamics consistent with early maturation of sleep in the heavily sampled, single infant data. Discussion Our results show that a greater understanding of the neurophysiology of sleep in infants and children can be achieved through the use of physiologically based models.

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