U.S. Grapples with High Infant Mortality

Too-Frequent Premature Births Mainly to Blame for U.S.'s 30th-in-the-World Mortality Ranking, Government Study Finds

(AP)  Premature births, often due to poor care of low-income pregnant women, are the main reason the U.S. infant mortality rate is higher than in most European countries, a government report said Tuesday.

About 1 in 8 U.S. births are premature. Early births are much less common in most of Europe; for example, only 1 in 18 babies are premature in Ireland and Finland.

Poor access to prenatal care, maternal obesity and smoking, too-early cesarean sections and induced labour and fertility treatments are among the reasons for preterm births, experts said.

Premature babies born before 37 weeks tend to be more fragile and have under-developed lungs, said the lead author of the new report, Marian MacDorman of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Premature births are the chief reason the U.S. ranks 30th in the world in infant mortality, with a rate more than twice as high as infant mortality rates in Sweden, Japan, Finland, Norway and the Czech Republic. For several years, the U.S. has ranked poorly among industrialized nations. MacDorman's report scrutinizes the reasons for that.

If U.S. infants were as mature as Sweden's are at birth, nearly 8,000 infant deaths could be avoided and the U.S. infant mortality rate would be about one-third lower than it is, according to a calculation by MacDorman and others at the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

Why so many more premature infants here? Experts offered several possible explanations:

-Fertility treatments and other forms of assisted reproduction probably play a role because they often lead to twins, triplets or other multiple births. Those children tend to be delivered early.

-The U.S. health care system doesn't guarantees prenatal care to pregnant women, particularly the uninsured, said Dr. Alan R. Fleischman, medical director for the March of Dimes.

-Maternal obesity and smoking have been linked to premature births and may also be a factor.

-Health officials are also concerned that doctors increasingly are inducing labour or performing C-sections before the 37th week. However, Fleischman said most infant deaths do not occur in babies just shy of 37 weeks gestation, but rather in those much younger,

Labour was induced in nearly 16 per cent of premature births in 2006, up from about 8 per cent in 1991. Cesarean sections were done in 36 per cent of preterm births, up from 25 per cent in 1991, MacDorman said.

The report used 2005 statistics to make comparisons to 14 European countries. There is more recent data: International infant mortality statistics for 2006 and 2007 indicate that since 2000, the U.S. rate has stood at about 7 infant deaths for every 1,000 live births.

The report also found that while the United States more commonly saw premature births, survival rates for infants at that gestational age were as good or better than most European countries.

"So, once the baby is born too early, we do a good job of saving it. What we have trouble with is preventing the preterm birth in the first place," MacDorman said.

[thomderr1]

Perhaps parents that truly cared for their children, wanted and nurtured them would alleviate the need for public assistance.

All too much government monies are spent on those that are 'having babies' to keep their man or are using the excuse of 'the heat of the moment' to receive government funds. The fathers of these children are out and about impregnating again and again, with the excuse that they didn't do it or don't have a job.

I am for supporting these children, but with more responsibility heaped upon the parent that vacates their responsibility.

Add on those that have the ability to falsify their monthly reports to their respective State Department for Children. They can afford a new SUV to drive to the Food Stamp Office, yet they need help with paying for their child's meals.

Am I sounding harsh, yes.

I am only speaking from my heart. My twenty-four year old daughter was in a serious car accident and was denied disability. She can't drive or work - she had serious brain damage, yet others can receive hundreds of dollars in assistance and pull up to the food stamp office in a new Expidition.

The President needs to police the people receiving the welfare, before he grants the welfare to more.

[ToolMangler1]

What percentage of these deaths are linked to..
(1) In Vitro fertilization.
(2) Non religious parents.
(3) Religious parents.
(4) Rape.
(5) Incest.
(6) Race.
(7) Status, (poor/wealthy)
(8) Ethnicity.
(9) Health (of the Mother)
(10) Breast fed vs Non breast fed.

The list can go on and on. but every one of the factors can alter these statics.
Come on people, tell the "WHOLE" story and give the Nation something to fight with...

[ToolMangler1]

"If U.S. infants were as mature as Sweden's are at birth, nearly 8,000 infant deaths could be avoided and the U.S. infant mortality rate would be about one-third lower than it is,"



If Sweden had 20 million illegal immigrants on its medical rolls, How would its percentages change??????

[ToolMangler1]

My grand twins were 3 weeks premature, but they were very healthy.
Being 'premature' is merely a statement of circumstance in some cases, not a 'label' that means defective...

ssssshhhhheeeeeeeeeessssshhhhh!!!!!

[MPHgrad]

Oops, please forgive my error, just looked up most recent data & it is only 1% of the budget
Fact: Welfare Costs 1 Percent of the Federal Budget

http://www.apa.org/pi/wpo/myths.html

Which even further substantiates my point. I'm a public health professional and it is infuriating to here such lies spread to further the agenda of a political party and to denigrate an entire group of people. If one chooses to do so, please use factual data and maintain some level of integrity.

[MPHgrad]

Proofreading & editing are lost arts at CBS News with these egregious errors:

The U.S. health care system doesn't guarantees prenatal care to pregnant women, particularly the uninsured, said Dr. Alan R. Fleischman, medical director for the March of Dimes.

only 1 in 18 babies are premature in Ireland and Finland.

[thomderr1]

Religion and culture directly effect those figures.

Too bad they are not evident in the U.S.

[MPHgrad]

Proofreading & editing are lost arts at CBS News with these egregious errors:

The U.S. health care system doesn't guarantees prenatal care to pregnant women, particularly the uninsured, said Dr. Alan R. Fleischman, medical director for the March of Dimes.

only 1 in 18 babies are premature in Ireland and Finland.

[taxedmore]

As long as the government is using taxpayer money to support and subsidize welfare queens we will have high numbers of premies. Another massive government giveaway program will NOT fix this problem. The baby factories and the bums who knock them up have to change. Remember Obama?s ?change?? How about this for a change ? people have to start taking responsibility for themselves. The best way to start that is to shut off all the give away programs. You want food or a roof over your head ? earn it. They will be too busy to be having premies for the rest of us to pay for.

[stillwaters6]

LACK OF ACCESS TO TIMELY PRENATAL CARE DUE TO LACK OF INSURANCE OR UNDERFUNDED INSURANCE PLANS MIGHT HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THESE FINDINGS. DUH...

[thomderr1]

Lack of parenting may also have something to do with these findings.

[mswolfestock]

Let's face it - a lot of these pregnancies shouldn't have happened in the first place but they did anyway because too many women are too stupid to use birth control. And then they're too stupid to get an abortion.

They need to start handing out birth control pills and rubbers at the welfare office. Then we need to address the whole issue of Breeding Without a Brain. Mandatory spay and neuter programs for those on welfare would do the job quite nicely, too. (It works for dogs 'n' cats - what's so different about "humans.")

And who am I to say these things? I'm the working person who's been footing the bill for all of these throw-away kids. I've spent 37 years working, paying for these stupid people's welfare and food stamps and I've had it up to here.

[rf35]

I think there should be a licensing system for people to be allowed to have a baby. Have a kid without a license and both parents (when known) lose any and all welfare, food stamps, SSI, all of it. For life.

Any universal health care plan should include free access to birth control for men and women, as well as free voluntary sterilization.

[flreason]

This is a problem that women and men need to solve together. Our society teaches boys that women are sex objects (and vice versa). Advertisements show young girls, and sometimes boys (think Abercrombie & Fitch) in outfits that would be more appropriate on hookers. All adults need to take responsibility for their actions...including the mainstreaming of pornography and advertising that borders on porn. We need to stop pointing fingers and tackle the underlying societal behaviors that are within our power to control.

The Limbaugh mentality, which blames the victim, perpetuates irresponsible behavior. Boys-will-be-boys shouldn't be an out to escape the consequences of selfishness. Men need to take equal responsibility for the results of unprotected sexual adventurism. Vasectomies are much less costly, and have fewer health risks, than birth control pills. If older men don't teach responsiblity and parenting by example, then they shouldn't complain about the societal cost of the children that result from their behavior. And women, by their example, need to teach girls not to sell themselves (figuratively, as well as literally) as sex objects, and to take responsibility for the welfare and education of their offspring. As a society, we need to stop perpetuating victimization as entertainment in both movies and television. When we support this type of behavior--through TV ratings and purchase of videos, etc.--we become part of the problem.

We ALL need, instead, to be part of the solution, regardless of race, religion, or politics. That includes paying taxes for quality education and health care for all--not just the economically advantaged. Utopia is a myth and mirage, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't strive for it.

[MPHgrad]

wow, too stupid to get an abortion, how about too caring and considerate of human life?
I wouldn't kill any one's baby much less my own.
Also, welfare only accounts for 3%-4% of the federal budget on average under any administration. That is a red herring used in political debates to get people all upset and not focused on the real issue.

People should certainly implement contraceptive methods.

[palmquistt]

This report fails to mention that abortion is linked to premature births see http://www.lifenews.com/int1322.html
There are many studies on this.

Those who are "too stupid to get an abortion" are actually better off (as are their children).

[jtdev1]

But I thought we had the best health care in the world????

How can this be>?????


LOL - so much for that myth!


Universal Healthcare like France/Britian/Canada would solve this problem.

[inketolstoy]

"Universal Healthcare like France/Britian/Canada would solve this problem."

How would dragging the morons in Washington into a healthcare system already messed up solve this problem? Please name any significant federal government program that was effective, affordable, and not being scammed for millions?

[sandy19731]

Limiting fertility treatments to one implanted embryo would help quite a bit.