Infant Mortality in the United States of America - Term Paper Example

? Infant Mortality in the United s 20-09-11 Infant Mortality in the United s of America. Introduction: The significance of infant mortalityin a nation lies in the fact that it serves as a prominent indicator for a country’s well being and health status. In the United States the infant mortality rate has shown a steady decrease since the early 1930s. Surprisingly, the nation’s infant mortality rate is consistently higher than that of most of the other developed countries of the world. Moreover, the pace with which the US infant mortality rate has declined over the past few decades has not equalized the pace with which it has decreased in other industrialized nations. My interest in the issue was sparked when I studied the US statistics of infant mortality for the last four decades. I was amazed to discover the huge disparities in infant mortalities that exist between diverse race and ethnicities and across various socio economic statuses. I was surprised to discover that despite being the wealthiest nation, not all mothers and infants in the United States have an access to proper medical facilities. Especially the African American population due to various socio economic and substantial racial disparities does not have full access to infant, neonatal and post neonatal medical facilities. Therefore, the infant mortality rate among the African Americans consistently remains twice as that among the White population. On the other hand, the wide inequalities that exist between the rich and poor are the reason why infant mortality is more common among the areas dominated by the less fortunate individuals such as Delaware. In accordance with the recent CDC report, United States is ranked as 29th worldwide regarding infant mortality. However, the United States was ranked as 23rd in infant mortality in the year 1988. This shows that America has not been fortunate enough to accomplish the same pace of infant mortality decline as the other nations have been able to. Overall infant mortality trends from 1950 to 2003: National Vital Statistics System report revealed that the infant mortality rate in the United States decreased consistently over the span of forty one years from 1950 and 1991. The average rate of decline for each year was 3.11% which was quite impressive. However, the decline in the infant mortality rate was modest during the 1960s and accounted for a decline of approximately 1.03 % each year which amounts to about 20 deaths for every 1000 births. However, due to advanced medical research, increased public health facilities and improved social services the infant mortality rate has fallen to 7 deaths per every 1000 births. But this is still considerably higher than the rate in most other industrialized countries. Moreover, the rate has not decline significantly from 2003 onwards and this has been the center of foci for researchers and policy makers of the United States. The District of Columbia has the highest IMR in the United States. Neonatal mortality trends observed in different races: Unfortunately, the decline in infant mortality rate has been significantly different for Black and White American populations during the years 1950 to 1991. The infant mortality rate for White population decreased by 3.25% while on the other hand black population has not been so fortunate and the rate showed a decreased of only 2.85% each year. Therefore, racial disparity among infant mortalities showed an increase during the span of forty one years. In the year 1950 alone, black population had an infant mortality rate of 43.6 deaths per 1000 live births. On the contrary, white population had a rate of 26.8 deaths per 1000 live births of white infants. Causes: one of the major reasons for the plateau of infant mortality rate over last few years is because the number of preterm births has increased rapidly. The rate of preterm births showed an increase of 9% from 2000 to 2005. During the span of five years, every preterm gestational age grouping has showed an increase. For example, preterm births consisting of gestation period less than 32 weeks, showed an increase of 5%. Furthermore, the rate of late pre term births increased from 8.2% in 2000 to 9.1% in the year 2005. Therefore, the rate of infant mortality associated with pre term births has also increased. In the year 2000 alone, 65.6% of the total infant deaths occurred due to the birth of preterm infants. Moreover, the rate of infant mortality due to preterm births showed an increase of 2% in the year 2005. This trend shows that preterm births have a huge impact on the rate of infant mortality in the United States of America. Smoking by pregnant women, poor maternal nutrition during gestation, congenital anomalies, low birth weight and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) are among the leading cause of infant mortality in the US. Future of infant mortality in the United States of America: The IMR in United States is expected to decrease significantly over the next few years due to the strenuous efforts undertaken by the American Government. The Healthy Start Program is coordinated and managed by HRSA is a $ 95 million funded program which aims to reduce the IMR in the United States. The program works to ensure that prenatal health care is easily accessible and available to everyone across America. The program is specially designed to encompass various aspects for the reduction of IMR such as increasing health education among the African American population. On the hand, Medicaid works to provide better prenatal and post natal medical facilities to mothers who have a low income. Furthermore, State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) provides medical assistance and facilities to more than 4.6 million children each year. In addition, the efforts of HHS to ensure the availability of childhood immunization have increased the percentage of immunized children in the United States. On the other hand, awareness campaigns such as the ‘National Folic Acid’ campaign is routinely organized and educates pregnant mothers to use folic acid in order to prevent serious birth defects. Another campaign known as the ‘Back to Sleep’ campaign educates mothers about ways to prevent SIDS. HHS supports and funds all programs to reduce teenage pregnancy across United States of America. Thus, due to the consistent efforts of the American government, infant mortality in the United States of America is expected to decrease drastically over the next few years. (Summary health statistics for the U.S. population 2005) References: National Center for Health Statistics (U.S.), & National Health Interview Survey (U.S.). (2005). Summary health statistics for the U.S. population. Hyattsville, Md: Dept. of Health & Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Read More