Infant Mortality Highest Among Babies Of Young Mothers, UK

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 28 Nov 2008 - 3:00 PST

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Babies born to mothers aged under 20 have higher infant mortality rates than those born to older mothers, according to new data for 2007 published today in the Office for National Statistics journal Health Statistics Quarterly.

Provisional figures show that the infant mortality (deaths of babies under one year of age) rate was highest among babies of mothers aged under 20 (7.2 deaths per 1,000 live births) and lowest among babies of mothers aged 30-34 (4.0 per 1,000 live births).

The findings form part of a new report on infant and perinatal mortality by social and biological factors in England and Wales in 2007.

Further key findings show:

- Babies of mothers aged 40 and over had the highest perinatal mortality (stillbirths and deaths in the first week of life) rate at 10.3 per 1,000 births compared with the overall rate of 7.7 per 1,000 births.

- The infant mortality rates for very low birthweight babies (under 1,500 grams) and low birthweight babies (under 2,500 grams) were 178 and 38 deaths per 1,000 live births respectively compared with a rate of 1.8 among normal birthweight babies (2,500 grams and over). Forty-four per cent of infant deaths occurred among very low birthweight babies.

- Babies of mothers born in Pakistan had a particularly high infant mortality rate (9.1 deaths per 1,000 live births) which was almost double the overall infant mortality rate of 4.6 per 1,000 live births. The stillbirth and the perinatal mortality rates were also particularly high in babies of mothers born in Pakistan and babies of mothers born in the Caribbean.

This report is published today in Health Statistics Quarterly 40 winter 2008 (p61), available free on the Office for National Statistics website: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=6725.

This year's winter HSQ publication also includes articles on:

- Geographical trends in infant mortality: England and Wales, 1970-2006
- Standardised Mortality Ratios - the effect of smoothing ward-level results
- Regional differences in male mortality inequalities using the National Statistics Socio-economic Classification, England and Wales, 2001-03

It also contains reports on:

- Health expectancies in the United Kingdom, 2004-06
- Excess winter mortality in England and Wales, 2007/08 (provisional) and 2006/07 (final)
- Cancer incidence and mortality in the United Kingdom and constituent countries, 2003-05
- Life expectancy at birth and at age 65 by local areas in the United Kingdom, 2005-07

For further news releases see the Office for National Statistics website: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/prep/6725.asp

Background Notes

1. Details of the policy governing the release of new data are available from the press office.

2. The report is based on infant deaths linked to their corresponding birth records. In 2007, 3,266 infant deaths occurred in England and Wales, of which 3,185 (98 per cent) were linked to their birth records.

3.National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference. Crown copyright 2008

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