Explain Infant Mortality Rate 

Infant Mortality Rate

Infant mortality refers to the deaths in the first year of age. This year is the year most affecting the life table because in addition to old age, generally the number of deaths in this year is more than any other group of age. Infant mortality rate is considered to be the best index of the health status of the society.

The lower the infant mortality rate, the better the standard of living and public health, and the lower the fertility rate because there are more chances of children surviving. Conversely, where the infant mortality rate is high, the fertility rate is also high.

To find the infant mortality rate, the death rate in the first year of life is divided by the number of births at this specific time. The number obtained is called infant mortality rate and whenever this death rate is calculated per thousand births, the dividend obtained is multiplied by 1000. Its calculation formula is as follows, the number of deaths of children under the age of one year in a given year and area Demography-II Infant Mortality Rate = -x1000 Number of live births in the same year and area Do – 1 or , Infant Mortality Rate ( I.M.R. ) = x 1000 B where , Do – 1 = number of live births before the completion of the first year of life Neonatal mortality rate = B = number of live births in that particular year. is divided into two parts

(i) Neonatal Mortality Rate and (ii) Post Neonatal Mortality Rate.

(i) Neo-natal Mortality Rate – This is an age-specific mortality rate, in which the mortality rate of children below the age of four weeks or one month is studied. Its calculation formula is as follows, the number of deaths of children under one month of age in a given year and area, the number of live births in the same year and area x1000
Public Health in India Do 28 B Where, Do- 28 = Deaths registered under any year whose age is less than or equal to 28 days or one month. B = Number of children born within the same year

(ii) Post Neo-natal Mortality | Bate – Deaths that occurred in the remaining 48 weeks of the year after the first four weeks are included in this. Its calculation is also similar to the above calculation. Generally, infant deaths occur in the first four weeks, they are due to physical and sensory problems that would have come due to pre-mature births. In contrast, the deaths in the next 48 weeks are mostly due to unhealthy living conditions, eating dirty things. And due to malnutrition etc.

Countries where infant mortality ratio is low is only due to control of deaths occurring in the 48 weeks after the new birth period. According to Brogue, the weeks of postnatal period are more lethal in terms of infant mortality because the newborn survives on mother’s milk for the first four weeks after birth. Therefore, it is not affected by the pollution of the environment. The possibilities of death in this time period are not as much as in the post-new birth period. That is, the infant mortality rate = 113 x 1000 / In the second period, the child faces the polluted environment and starts taking food other than mother’s milk. The care of the baby also becomes relatively less during this period.

So the chances of his death also increase. Generally the areas and countries which are economically backward and where there is illiteracy. And there is a lack of public health and medical facilities, there is a high infant mortality rate. In contrast, the infant mortality rate is relatively low in developed countries due to the availability of specialized facilities.

Factors Influencing Infant Mortality –

Factors affecting infant mortality can be classified into two groups

(i) Birth related factors- Birth related factors generally include physical and sensory disorders. Such as – preterm birth, congenital malformation, suffocation, birth wound, maternity fever, untrained nurse and not available medical facility on time etc.

(ii) External factors – These factors include those factors which are responsible for the infant mortality rate in the post-birth period. For example, uneducated parents, poverty, polluted environment, infectious diseases, jaundice, pneumonia, accidents, malnutrition etc.