United States: For the very first time in last 20 years, the infant deaths rate in some parts of United States has increased and this information is according to new government data. A report shown by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that almost like 20,500 babies died in 2022 before reaching the age of one year.
Statistics and Expert Insights
As reported by HealthDay, this translates to 5.6 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, marking a 3% rise from the previous year. “Infant health is one of the most important public health indicators that we have,” said Amanda Jean Stevenson, a demographer and assistant professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. She emphasized the urgency of reducing these rates, stating,
“The fact that [infant mortality rates] are not continuing to decrease is a huge deal. Even flat infant mortality rates are not good. We need to see these numbers going down — and fast — because they are far too high.”
Historical Trends and Causes
Infant mortality in the United States had been generally trending down since at least 1995 but the rates are still much higher in this country than they are in many other developed nations.
Reason behind deaths of infants.
The leading cause of infant mortality was same in the year between 2021 and 2022 from about almost 30 infant deaths for every 100,000 live births to more than 33 per 100,000 live births and none of the other leading causes of infant death increased significantly, the report found.
Impact of Maternal Health and COVID-19
Deaths of infants are tied to the maternal health and the struggle by US for years with the high rates of the death among women during the pregnancy childbirth or postpartum, reported by CNN.
COVID also played a role in the infant mortality in 2022 Stevenson added and the infections in the pregnant women during major surges in year 2021 could have affected the infants born in 2022.
Study showed that women who are affected by the were nearly four times seems to be admitted to a proper care unit than those who weren’t infected and they were also 15 times more vulnerable to be ventilated and seven times more likely to die.
Not only that, but they faced higher risks of the preeclampsia, blood clots and the problems which are caused by the extreme high blood pressure.