Infant Mortality Rate

Exposure to high levels of heat could affect growth of foetuses in the womb and infants up to two years of age, an analysis of over 600 pregnancies in the west African country of The Gambia has suggested. For every degree Celsius rise in average daily heat in the first trimester of pregnancy, the weight of a baby at birth corresponding to gestation period was found to be lowered, according to the findings published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal. One experiences heat stress when their body's ability to regulate temperature is compromised. The researchers, led by those at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), UK, followed a total of 668 infants, about half of whom were girls and half boys, for their first 1,000 days of life. At birth, 66 infants (10 per cent) were found to weigh under 2.5 kilograms, described as a low birth weight by the researchers. About a third of the infants studied (218) were found to be small for gestational age, while nine infants

In Southeast Asia alone, 38.04 million lives were saved by vaccines in 2024, compared to 34.82 million in 2020, 15.70 million in 2000, and 5.35 million in 1990

Constructing toilets under the Swachh Bharat Mission India's national cleanliness programme may have helped avert roughly 60,000-70,000 infant deaths every year, according to a study. A team, including researchers from the International Food Policy Research Institute, US, looked at data from nationally representative surveys covering 35 states/Union territories and over 600 districts over 20 years. The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, investigated the link between an increase in access to toilet, built under the Swachh Bharat Mission, and drop in deaths among infants and children aged under five from 2000 to 2020. The results suggested that on average, improving district-level toilet access by 10 percentage points corresponded to a lowering of death rates in infants by 0.9 points and those in under-5 by 1.1 points. Historically, having access to a toilet and deaths among children have been inversely related in India, the authors said. They further found that .

The US infant mortality rate rose 3 per cent last year the largest increase in two decades, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. White and Native American infants, infant boys and babies born at 37 weeks or earlier had significant death rate increases. The CDC's report, published on Wednesday, also noted larger increases for two of the leading causes of infant deaths maternal complications and bacterial meningitis. It's definitely concerning, given that it's going in the opposite direction from what it has been, said Marie Thoma, a University of Maryland researcher who studies maternal and infant mortality. Dr. Eric Eichenwald, a Philadelphia-based neonatologist, called the new data disturbing, but said experts at this point can only speculate as to why a statistic that generally has been falling for decades rose sharply in 2022. RSV and flu infections rebounded last fall after two years of pandemic precautions, filling pediatric emergency rooms across the

The campaign, which aims to reduce infant mortality, will be run under the public-private partnership in Indonesia

An international investigation found that during the height of the pandemic, breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact rates were low

Infants whose mothers have used snus, a moist oral tobacco product, during pregnancy ran three times the risk of sudden infant death, according to a new comprehensive registry study. The risk was much lower if the mother had stopped taking snus before the first antenatal visit, the study said. The researchers, from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, concluded that all types of nicotine products should be avoided during pregnancy. The study is published in the journal Pediatric Research. "Fortunately, the incidence of sudden infant death is very low, but we can see that taking snus or smoking while pregnant is associated with an increased risk," said Anna Gunnerbeck, paediatrician at the Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital and researcher at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet. While it is known that smoking during pregnancy is a risk factor in sudden infant death, little research has been done on snus and other nicotine products, the study

Life expectancy remains sub-par despite massive govt schemes

According to the new data, present level of IMR (28 infant deaths per thousand live births, for the year 2020) is less than one-fourth as compared to 1971 (129 infant deaths per thousand live births).

China's maternal and infant mortality rates have both dropped to a historic low, the National Health Commission said on Monday.

Setting another milestone in the health care sector, Odisha has registered a 39-point decline in infant mortality rate (IMR) in a span of 15 years, which is the "highest in the country", the chief minister's office said on Thursday. Odisha's IMR now stands at 36 per 1000 live births, the CMO stated. With effective implementation of quality healthcare services & focus on safe institutional delivery of women, #Odisha has registered highest point decline of 39 in Infant Mortality Rate in the country from 2005 to 2020. Odisha's IMR stands at 36/1000 live births#OdishaLeads (sic)," the CMO said on Twitter. Odisha was followed by Rajasthan, which recorded a 36-point decline in IMR between 2005 and 2022. Patnaik congratulated the departments concerned for the achievement, according to a release issued by the government. He also held a meeting during the day to review the implementation of Mo Sarkar' (my government), a programme launched in the state in 2019 to seek feedback from common

The data from NFHS-5 for 22 states and Union Territories, that were collected between June 1, 2019, and January 30, 2020, were released in December 2020

Infant mortality and under-five mortality has reduced from 40.7 to 35.2 and 49.7 to 41.9

SRS data shows that infant mortality in rural areas had declined faster than urban centres between 2011-15; the situation has reversed again in favour of urban areas

India accounts for more than a third of the global excess infant deaths in 2020 due to the economic slowdown caused by Covid-19, according to a study led by World bank researchers

According to the paper, overall infant mortality increased in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, and stagnated for at least a year in seven other states

Babies born with a low birth weight are more susceptible to childhood infections and pneumonia.

According to the UNICEF, 69,944 babies were expected to be born on the New Year Day out of 3,95,072 babies likely to be born across the world