Editing Infant mortality (section)

====War====
Infant mortality rates correlate with [[war]], political unrest, and [[government corruption]].<ref name="Andrews" /> In most cases, war-affected areas will experience a significant increase in infant mortality rates. Having a war take place when planning pregnancy is not only stressful on the mother and fetus but also has several detrimental effects.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Abouharb |first=M. Rodwan |date=2023-03-16 |title=War and infant mortality rates |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14754835.2022.2122786 |journal=[[PLOS Medicine]] |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=135-157 |doi=10.1080/14754835.2022.2122786 |issn=1475-4835 |via=[[Taylor & Francis Online]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jawad |first1=Mohammed |last2=Hone |first2=Thomas |last3=Vamos |first3=Eszter P. |last4=Cetorelli |first4=Valeria |last5=Millett |first5=Christopher |date=2021-09-28 |title=Implications of armed conflict for maternal and child health: A regression analysis of data from 181 countries for 2000–2019 |journal=PLOS Medicine |language=en |volume=18 |issue=9 |pages=e1003810 |doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003810 |doi-access=free |issn=1549-1676 |pmc=8478221 |pmid=34582455}}</ref>

Many other significant factors influence infant mortality rates in war-torn areas. Health care systems in developing countries in the midst of war often collapse, and obtaining basic medical supplies and care becomes increasingly difficult. During the [[Yugoslav Wars]] in the 1990s, Bosnia experienced a 60% decrease in child immunizations. Preventable diseases can quickly become epidemics during war.<ref name="Krug_2002">{{Cite book |url=https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/en/ |title=World Report on Violence and Health |vauthors=Krug E |publisher=Geneva WHO |year=2002 |location=Geneva}}</ref>

Many developing countries rely on foreign aid for basic nutrition, and transport of aid becomes significantly more difficult in times of war. In most situations, the average weight of a population will drop substantially.<ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Toole MJ, Galson S, Brady W |date=May 1993 |title=Are war and public health compatible? |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1258317 |journal=Lancet |volume=341 |issue=8854 |pages=1193–6 |doi=10.1016/0140-6736(93)91013-C |pmid=8098086 |s2cid=7743798}}</ref> Expectant mothers are affected even more by a lack of access to food and water. During the Yugoslav Wars in Bosnia, the number of premature babies born increased and the average birth weight decreased.<ref name="Krug_2002" />

There have been several instances in recent years of systematic rape as a weapon of war. People who become pregnant as a result of war rape face even more significant challenges in bearing a healthy child. Studies suggest that people who experience sexual violence before or during pregnancy are more likely to experience infant death.<ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Asling-Monemi K, Peña R, Ellsberg MC, Persson LA |year=2003 |title=Violence against women increases the risk of infant and child mortality: a case-referent study in Nicaragua |journal=Bulletin of the World Health Organization |volume=81 |issue=1 |pages=10–6 |pmc=2572309 |pmid=12640470}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Emenike E, Lawoko S, Dalal K |date=March 2008 |title=Intimate partner violence and reproductive health of women in Kenya |journal=International Nursing Review |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=97–102 |doi=10.1111/j.1466-7657.2007.00580.x |pmid=18275542}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Jejeebhoy SJ |date=September 1998 |title=Associations between wife-beating and fetal and infant death: impressions from a survey in rural India |journal=Studies in Family Planning |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=300–8 |doi=10.2307/172276 |jstor=172276 |pmid=9789323}}</ref> Causes of infant mortality after abuse during pregnancy range from physical side effects of the initial trauma to psychological effects that lead to poor adjustment to society.<ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Fisher SK |date=October 1996 |title=Occupation of the Womb: Forced Impregnation as Genocide |url=https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/dlj/vol46/iss1/4 |journal=Duke Law Journal |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=91–133 |doi=10.2307/1372967 |jstor=1372967}}</ref> Many people who became pregnant by rape in Bosnia were isolated from their hometowns, making life after childbirth exponentially more difficult.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Theidon |first=Kimberly |date=1 December 2015 |title=Hidden in Plain Sight |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/683301 |journal=Current Anthropology |volume=56 |issue=S12 |pages=S191–S200 |doi=10.1086/683301 |issn=0011-3204}}</ref>