Free Essay: Infant Mortality Rate in China
Infant mortality rate refers to the number of deaths of children below one years of age that occur in every 1000 live births. According to statistics released from an evaluation on infant mortality rates by the World Factbook in 2013, it is indicated that when it comes to Infant Mortality Rate in China the country ranks as the 110th nation in world. This point out to a high infant mortality rate in China compared to quite a number of countries across the globe. As of 2013, China had 15.20 deaths in every 1,000 births in the entire nation.
Going by the statistics of the previous years, China has been experiencing a slow decrease in infant mortality rates over the years. For instance, the country’s infant mortality rate dropped to a record 62% within the period starting from 1996 to 2008. This huge drop in the number of deaths of infants has been linked to the significant increase in births or deliveries in clinics and hospitals. Partly, it has also been as a result of improved sensitization of women on how to exercise safe motherhood. Compared to some years back, quite a number of women in China today are more knowledgeable.
According to revelations from the studies conducted by various groups on death of newborns in China, as of 1998, less than half of the births that took place in China occurred in hospitals. From the recent years to date, the Chinese government has embarked on measures aimed at upgrading their health facilities, offering better training and also providing services like health insurance. However, concerns have been raised that socio-economic conditions and location of the residents still play a great role in hampering the fight against infant mortality rate in China. This is because; most women who live in rural areas still find it financially challenging to give birth in facilities that are more urbanized.
In most cases, babies that are delivered in Chinese rural hospitals are usually four times at greater risk of death compared to those in urbanized health facilities. The main reasons for this are poor nutrition, poor sanitation, and pneumonia among others. The sanitation standards and even facilities used in giving birth in most China’s hospitals in rural areas is quite below standard, and continues to hurt several mothers who deliver within those settings.
The use of midwives in child birth is a practice that is still very vibrant in China despite it being one of the causes of infant mortality. This practice is viewed as an outdated trend that may still continue to hamper the reduction of infant mortality rate in China. Most health experts are of the opinion that Chinese people may still continue to experience cases of infant mortality as a result of this and other outdated cultural practices at child birth.
Despite the strides that China has made towards decreasing infant mortality rates, there is still need for improvements in healthcare, government funding and advocacy for deliveries in hospitals. With these, it is expected that the rates of infant mortality will significantly be cut.
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Reference:
http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp204-us13/2013/08/09/infant-mortality-in-china-2/
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN