Infant mortality in the United States

Infant mortality is a serious problem in the United States. Improvements have been made in the infant death rate since the early twentieth century. At that time, one out of every ten infants in America died before the age of one; today, however, "thanks to major strides in nutrition, sanitation and medical care, 99 out of 100 survive infancy" (Cowley, 1991, p. 18). Nevertheless, the rate of infant mortality today is astonishingly high for an industrially developed nation like the United States. As noted by M. P. Stanton (1990), "each year approximately 40,000 babies die in the first twelve months of life" (p. 18). In 1989, the annual rate in America reached a peak of 9.7 infant deaths per 1,000 births (Painton, 1991, p. 30). In 1990, that figure dropped to 9.1 deaths per 1,000 births (A few more first birthdays, 1991, p. 33). Thus, it can be seen that there has been a slight improvement in the infant mortality rate in recent years. Despite this improvement, however, the United States still has a relatively high rate in comparison with the other developed nations of the world. As reported by G. Cowley (1991), "such rates are a far cry from India's 97 deaths per 1,000 or Guinea's 143, but they're among the highest in the industrialized world" (p. 18). Painton has noted that infant mortality in the United States "now stands at twice the rate of Japan and below that of 23 other countries, including less affluent ones like Spain and Singapore" (p. 30). It is ironic tha

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descriptions. The tragedy of infant mortality in America is made worse by the fact that many of the deaths could have been prevented. Specifically, if poor minority women were given better education about how to care for their fetuses, fewer deaths would occur. In addition, if better facilities and services were made available to such women, fewer infant deaths would occur. As noted by Cowley (1991), for example, low birth rate as caused by poor nutrition, drug abuse, alcohol abuse or cigarette smoking, is "imminently preventable" (p. 20). The only reason why it is not prevented in such cases is because women from certain ethnic and cultural backgrounds are not properly informed about the dangers of such behaviors during pregnancy. Stanton (1990) agrees that "in most cases the deaths were probably preventable" (p. 20). With proper prenatal care, the infant death rate in the United States would undoubtedly decline. However, poor minority mothers often do not have access to the services that they need. In addition to a lack of money, such women are handicapped by the fact that social services are generally understaffed. Yet another way in which infant deaths among poor women could be curbed is through the use of prenata

Category: Medical - I