US Among Worst in the World for Infant Death

But what may at first seem like a remarkable achievement is actually not impressive when statistics show the United States ranking near the bottom among industrialized nations in infant mortality, theA.P.reports. A 2006 Save the Children report listed the U.S. ahead of only Latvia, and tied with Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia near the bottom of the list.
Why aren't infant death rates even lower? Racial and economic disparities, the wire service reports. For example, CDC statistics show that babies born to black mothers in the United States die at two-and-a-half times the rate of babies whose mothers are white, theA.P.reports.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...111100475.html

My first thought is the disparity between the title you have chosen for the thread "US Among Worst in the World ..." vs. the data you quote which labels the US as near the bottom of a list of industrialized nations.

The US statistics reflect issues in certain sectors of the population with a lack of access to care, undereducation and maternal health conditions including diabetes, obesity and drug use.

I wonder to what degree the U.S. infant mortality statistics are skewed by aggressive medical intervention with babies delivered at 22-28 weeks, with mixed outcomes.

Also, I think it's important to note the actual differences in infant mortality among the industrialized countries listed in the table which accompanies the article (statistical table produced by Save the Children). The table ranges from Japan's less than 2 per 1,000 live births to Latvia's 6 per 1,000. The US comes in at 5, though as HM2Viking points out, this data varies considerably by race in the US.

I think that SES (socioeconomic status) is a significant factor in the poor rankings of the US regarding infant death.

Although the US is the economic superpower and a very moneyed nation, we still possess numerous segments of the population that are poor, undereducated, do not realize the value of prenatal care, and are far less likely to change detrimental lifestyle habits during pregnancy. These segments include inner city women, immigrants, poor women from the Appalachian region, and a few others.

Many low SES women arrive at the emergency room to deliver their infants without ever having received any prenatal care. I know of a poor young woman with three children who asked, "Why don't I ever deliver 7-pound babies? My children have all been 4 and 5 pounds!" She also smoked 2 packs per day during the pregnancy. A great deal of these women lack health insurance, and are less likely to see the doctor when their blood pressure spikes upward, or when vaginal bleeding is noticed early in the pregnancy.

I agree that "worst in the world" is inaccurate.
In fairness to the original post this forum is titled "News" and that was the title of the articles in newspapers and web sites not the creation of the OP.


http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=3848450

http://www.physorg.com/news113939643.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071111/...est_us_picture

Erm well if you read the articles you would have assesed that I in fact did not "choose" the title, that I had taken it from the Yahoo headline... so yeah. But I do agree with what you're saying...

I hate to be melodramatic, but that’s pretty much what it comes down to.[/b]

[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21714869/ At least according to today’s report finding that] America is last among industrialized democracies in terms of infant mortality. Because our healthcare system is set up to guarantee billions of dollars of profit to unnecessary insurance corporations, kids born here are more likely to die than they are in countries with guaranteed healthcare through the single-payer model.

…cross-posted at the [http://www.GuaranteedHealthcare.org/blog National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Association’s] Breakroom Blog, as we organize for GUARANTEED healthcare on the single-payer model.

[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21655131/ One place this hits hard is Memphis,] along with other cities with predominantly African-American populations. African-American kids are two and a half times more likely than white kids to die in infancy. Racism starts early, I guess.

This is the context in which Rudy Giuliani stated his big lie about cancer patients being better of in America than Europe. He’s been proven wrong but refuses to apologize. [http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/...ncer_myth.html
Ezra Klein takes a look.]

One of the real flashpoints for the battle over healthcare is in Kentucky and West Virginia, where [http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/226717.html nurses across the country are traveling to support their striking colleagues] in the Appalachian Regional Healthcare System. ARH is trying to bump up their profits by slashing the number of nurses caring for patients. Profits over patients indeed.

In California, we’re working hard to stop a fake reform plan that includes an individual mandate, e.g. a requirement that every person purchase expensive, wasteful insurance products.

Fortunately,[http://www.sacbee.com/walters/story/483856.html public opinion is turning against this nasty little brew] cooked up by Arnold Schwarzenegger and aided by the capitulation of some key Democrats who are also on the insurance industry (and hospital industry) payroll to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

If we can break it here, we can break it anywhere!

There's already a thread started about this issue: http://allnurses.com/forums/f195/us-...th-261137.html

Threads merged.