Editing Infant mortality (section)

{{Short description|Death of children under the age of 1}}

[[File:Infant-mortality.svg|thumb|upright=1.65|World map of infant mortality rates in 2023]]

'''Infant mortality''' is the death of an [[infant]] before the infant's first birthday.<ref name="CDC-2022">{{Cite web |date=2022-09-08 |title=Infant Mortality {{!}} Maternal and Infant Health {{!}} Reproductive Health {{!}} CDC |url=https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternalinfanthealth/infantmortality.htm |access-date=2023-04-07 |website=www.cdc.gov |language=en-us}}</ref> The occurrence of infant mortality in a population can be described by the '''infant mortality rate''' ('''IMR'''), which is the number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births.<ref name="CDC-2022" /> Similarly, the ''[[child mortality]] rate'', also known as the ''under-five mortality rate,'' compares the death rate of children up to the age of five.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Under-Five Mortality |work=UNICEF |url=https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-survival/under-five-mortality/ |access-date=2017-03-07}}</ref>

In 2013, the leading cause of infant mortality in the United States was birth defects.<ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Mathews TJ, MacDorman MF, Menacker F |date=January 2002 |title=Infant Mortality Statistics from the 1999 Period: Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr50/nvsr50_04.pdf |journal=National Vital Statistics Reports |volume=50 |issue=4 |pages=1–28 |doi=10.1037/e558952006-001 |pmid=11837053 |hdl-access=free |hdl=1903/24216}}</ref> Other leading causes of infant mortality include [[birth asphyxia]], [[pneumonia]], [[neonatal infection]], [[diarrhea]], [[malaria]], [[measles]], [[malnutrition]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Infant Mortality & Newborn Health |url=https://www.womenandchildrenfirst.org.uk/infant-mortality-newborn-health |access-date=2017-04-25 |publisher=Women and Children First}}</ref> [[congenital malformations]], term birth complications such as abnormal presentation of the fetus, [[umbilical cord prolapse]], or [[prolonged labor]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Labor and Delivery Complications -- the Basics |work=WebMD |url=http://www.webmd.com/baby/understanding-labor-delivery-complications-basics#3 |access-date=2017-03-16}}</ref> One of the most common preventable causes of infant mortality is smoking during pregnancy.<ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Hall ES, Venkatesh M, Greenberg JM |date=November 2016 |title=A population study of first and subsequent pregnancy smoking behaviors in Ohio |journal=Journal of Perinatology |volume=36 |issue=11 |pages=948–953 |doi=10.1038/jp.2016.119 |pmid=27467563 |s2cid=29303225 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Lack of prenatal care, alcohol consumption during pregnancy, and drug use also cause complications that may result in infant mortality.<ref name="cdc-2020">{{Cite web |last=CDC |date=2020-06-03 |title=Commit to Healthy Choices to Help Prevent Birth Defects {{!}} CDC |url=https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/prevention.html |access-date=2020-07-30 |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |language=en-us}}</ref>{{Failed verification|reason=source gives advice on preventing birth defects generally, not specific to those that cause infant mortality|date=August 2020}} Many situational factors contribute to the infant mortality rate, such as the pregnant woman's level of education, environmental conditions, political infrastructure, and level of medical support.<ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Genowska A, Jamiołkowski J, Szafraniec K, Stepaniak U, Szpak A, Pająk A |date=July 2015 |title=Environmental and socio-economic determinants of infant mortality in Poland: an ecological study |journal=Environmental Health |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=61 |doi=10.1186/s12940-015-0048-1 |pmc=4508882 |pmid=26195213 |bibcode=2015EnvHe..14...61G |doi-access=free }}</ref> Improving [[sanitation]], access to clean drinking water, [[immunization]] against [[infectious diseases]], and other [[public health]] measures can help reduce rates of infant mortality.

In 1990, 8.8 million infants younger than one-year-old died globally<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020 |title=Infant Mortality |url=https://www.who.int/gho/child_health/mortality/neonatal_infant_text/en/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140324141053/http://www.who.int/gho/child_health/mortality/neonatal_infant_text/en/ |archive-date=March 24, 2014 |access-date=22 October 2020 |website=World Health Organization}}</ref> out of 12.6 million child deaths under the age of five.<ref name="Roser" /> More than 60% of the deaths of children under-five are seen as avoidable with low-cost measures such as continuous [[breastfeeding]], vaccinations, and improved nutrition.<ref>{{Cite web |title=WHO {{!}} Child mortality |url=https://www.who.int/pmnch/media/press_materials/fs/fs_mdg4_childmortality/en/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110314194542/http://www.who.int/pmnch/media/press_materials/fs/fs_mdg4_childmortality/en/ |archive-date=March 14, 2011 |access-date=2017-03-16 |website=www.who.int}}</ref> The global under-five mortality rate in 1950 was 22.5%, which dropped to 4.5% in 2015.<ref name="Roser">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Roser M |date=2013-05-10 |title=Child Mortality |url=https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality |journal=Our World in Data}}</ref> Over the same period, the infant mortality rate declined from 65 deaths per 1,000 live births to 29 deaths per 1,000.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mortality rate, infant (per 1,000 live births) {{!}} Data |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/sp.dyn.imrt.in |access-date=2019-03-24 |website=data.worldbank.org}}</ref> Globally, 5.4 million children died before their fifth birthday in 2017;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Children: reducing mortality |url=https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/children-reducing-mortality |access-date=2020-07-31 |website=www.who.int |language=en}}</ref> by 2021 that number had dropped to 5 million children.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 2023 |title=Under-five mortality |url=https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-survival/under-five-mortality/ |website=[[UNICEF]]}}</ref>

The child mortality rate (not the infant mortality rate) was an indicator used to monitor progress towards the Fourth Goal of the [[Millennium Development Goals]] of the [[United Nations]] for the year 2015. A reduction in child mortality was established as a target in the [[Sustainable Development Goals]]—Goal Number 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform |url=https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg3 |access-date=23 April 2016 |publisher=UN-DESA}}</ref> {{As of|January 2022}}, an analysis of 200 countries found 133 already meeting the SDG target, with 13 others trending towards meeting the target by 2030.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 20, 2022 |title=Global, regional and national trends in under-5 mortality between 1990 and 2019 with scenario-based projections until 2030 |url=https://data.unicef.org/resources/global-regional-and-national-trends-in-under-5-mortality-between-1990-and-2019/ |website=[[UNICEF]]}}</ref> Throughout the world, the infant mortality rate (IMR) fluctuates drastically, and according to Biotechnology and Health Sciences, education and life expectancy in a country are the leading indicators of IMR.<ref name="alijanzadeh-2016">{{Cite journal |last1=Alijanzadeh |first1=Mehran |last2=Asefzadeh |first2=Saeed |last3=Moosaniaye Zare |first3=Seyed Ali |date=2016-02-05 |title=Correlation Between Human Development Index and Infant Mortality Rate Worldwide |journal=Biotechnology and Health Sciences |volume=3 |issue=1 |doi=10.17795/bhs-35330 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |s2cid=73614487 |issn=2383-0271}}</ref> This study was conducted across 135 countries over the course of 11 years, with the continent of Africa having the highest infant mortality rate of any region studied, with 68 deaths per 1,000 live births.<ref name="alijanzadeh-2016" />

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