Low Birth Weight: What Is Infant Mortality?

“Compared with European Americans, African American infants experience disproportionately high rates of low birth weight (LBW) and preterm delivery and are more than twice as likely to die during their 1st year of life”(Giscombé, C. L., & Lobel, M., 2005). The infant mortality rate for African Americans is 13.7 deaths per 1000 live births, more than twice the rate (5.7) for White Americans in the U.S. (Kung, Hoyert, Xu, & Murphy, 2008). A lot of the racial disparity in infant mortality can be explained by low birthweight and preterm delivery, which are also disproportionately and often experienced by African Americans (Martin et al., 2007).

Premature birth is an important public health priority in terms of health of women and infants. Every year an estimated 15 million preterm babies are born and this number is still rising (WHO, 2015).In 2014, 1 of every 10 babies born in United States were premature and black infants were 50% more likely to be born premature than white, Hispanic and Asian/Pacific islander infants (CDC,2015). Almost 1 million children die each year due to complications of premature birth (WHO, 2015). Major survivors face lifelong disabilities like learning disabilities, hearing, visual, feeding, digestive, breathing and respiratory problems (CDC, 2015) and low birth weight (March of Dimes, 2014). A major challenge in decreasing the rate of preterm birth is

According to Healthy People 2020, "Improving the well-being of mothers, infants, and children, is an important public health goal for the United States. Their well-being determines the health of the next generation and can help predict future public health challenges for families, communities, and the health care system" (Healthy People 2020, 2015). Infant mortality is defined as the death of an infant before his or her first birthday, while fetal mortality is defined as the intrauterine death of a fetus at any gestational age (MMRW, 2013 and MacDorman, Kirmeyer & Wilson, 2012). In the United States an estimated 13,000 fetal deaths occurred ≥ 28 weeks gestation making up 28% of all perinatal deaths in 2006, the latest year with available national data (Lee,

Discuss disparities related to ethnic and cultural groups relative to low birth weight infants and preterm births.

Maintaining healthy lifestyles such as eating healthy diets as well as proper health care can improve outcomes for mother and infants. WIC participants are more likely to receive adequate prenatal care. This in turn means longer pregnancies and infants are born with higher birth weights. Adequate maternal health and nutrition can reduce some of the leading risk for infant mortality such as low birth weight and prematurity ("Women, Infant and Children," 2015). Premature infants have longer hospital stays and additional health expenses then babies that are born full term. Children enrolled in WIC programs are also more likely to receive regular health

The U.S. infant mortality rate is 5.7 per 1000 births and 1.5 in Canada although has declined over the past several decades (O'Neill & O'Neill, 2007). Low-birth weight babies have a better chance at survival in the U.S. than in Canada due to advances in medical technology and expenditures on intensive care units (O'Neill & O'Neill, 2007). The reason there are more infant mortality rates in the U.S. is because there are more infants born weighing very little than compared to Canada.

The San Luis, AZ rate of low-weight births is that of 59.7 per 1,000 births this rate is actually lower than the state rate of 70.6 per 1,000 births (San Luis PCA, 2016). Although this rate is lower than the state rate it still remains as a concern as the county wide rate did increase within 2 years (Arizona Health Matters, 2016). Given that low-birth weight, prenatal care, and infant mortality can be interconnected the lack of appropriate care and the rising trend in the delivery of low-weight births will impact the rate of infant mortality directly within the community.

Present data trends in infant mortality for the U.S. from the first and last available year.

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) also known as infant death rate, is the death of an infant before his or her first birthday. Infant mortality is calculated, by the number of children who die under a year of age divided by the number of live births that year. Infant mortality rate is very important as it relates to the health of pregnant women, children and infants and it’s associated with maternal health, quality and access to medical care, socioeconomic conditions, and public health practices. The most important purpose of this review is to examine and understand why African American infants are disproportionately affected and the factors(Low birth weight, preterm birth weight and very low birth weight and infant mortality)

Expanding preventative and therapeutic services for pregnant women can greatly reduce the risk for pre-term delivery that results in low birth weight infants (Gehrig & Willmann, 2016).

Preterm birth (PTB), low birth weight (LBW), and intrauterine growth restriction (IGUR) are the leading causes of neonatal morbidity, mortality, and disabilities (Swamy, Ostbye, & Skjaerven, 2008; Wilson-Costello, Friedman, Minich, Fanaroff, & Hack, 2005). These poor birth outcomes are costly. In fact, in 2001 LBW and PTB hospital expenses in the United States were approximately $5.8 billion (Russell et al., 2007). Furthermore, they comprised 27% of pediatric stays and 47% of all infant hospitalization (Russell et al., 2007). When considering total cost, such as long-term expense of special education service and lost productivity, preterm birth is estimated to be $26.2 billion dollars (Behrman & Butler, 2007). While these poor birth outcomes have many causes, one method of prevention is to address the behavioral health of pregnant women.

According to the Forum of Child and Family Statistics, “disorders related to preterm birth and low birthweight are the second leading cause of infant death in the United States” (Forum on Child and Family Statistics, 2015). Infants born weighing less than 5.8 oz. (2, 5000 grams) are considered low birth weight (LWB) and infants born with less than 37 weeks are considered preterm. The risk of early death, long term disabilities and chronic health conditions are higher in both, preterm and LWB infants. Some women are more likely to have a LWB or preterm baby that others dependent of their risk factors. There are numerous risk factors such as chronic health disorders, infections, and problems with the placenta, as well as smoking, drugs and alcohol that can be directly related to LWB and preterm infants. Age, race, ethnicity, education level as well as unemployed and low income can also be considered important risk factors. The incidence of LWB and preterm babies is greater within black, non-Hispanic women in the United States (LBW-13.1%, and preterm-16.3%), follow by Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaskan Native babies respectively (Forum on Child and Family Statistics, 2015).

Infant mortality is considered to be an important factor in determining the health of a nation. To better understand the severity of infant mortality rates this brief addresses the trend of infant mortality throughout history and then compares the differences in infant mortality rates (IMR) between black and white infants.

While some women who received no prenatal care had normal, uncomplicated births, others did not. Most of the women who did not receive adequate prenatal care gave birth to an underweight and underdeveloped infant. Among the benefits of early, comprehensive prenatal care are decreased risk of preterm deliveries and low birth weight (LBW)-both major predictors of infant morbidity and mortality. (Dixon, Cobb, Clarke, 2000). Preterm deliveries, deliveries prior to 37 weeks of gestation, have risen. Since the studies in 1987, which showed the rate of preterm deliveries as 6.9% of births, the 1997 rate shows an increase to 7.5%. Low birth weight, defined as an infant weighing less than 2500 grams (5lbs. 5oz) is often preceded by preterm delivery. Low

Despite the clear issues that require urgent addressing such as the stagnant maternal death rate and high newborn mortality rates, other issues still require immediate attention as maternal and child health is an incredibly important topic among organizations that are focusing on global health. The reason this issue presents itself in urgency and is becoming a high priority does not solely rest in the severity of the case. The problems that surround maternal and child health are so easily