Infant Mortality Rate: Formula, Causes & Preventive Measures

The infant mortality rate or IMR is known as the number of deaths of infants out of every thousand children born. This rate helps in understanding the causes of death of infants during a particular region.

• IMR is an important index used to measure the infant’s health and safety improvement during and after birth.
• This rate acts as a physical health indicator of the human community. 
• Birth defects are the main reason behind the high infant mortality rate.
• The death of an infant before its first birthday per 1000 live births is known as infant mortality. 
• The infant death rate is the rate that defines the number of deaths of the youngsters before their first birthday. 
• A high infant mortality rate shows poor health conditions are there within the country.
• Malaria, diarrhoea, measles and malnutrition are other factors for high IMR.

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Key Terms: Infant, Infant Mortality Rate, IMR, Health Indicator, Death Rate, Replacement Rate, Malnutrition, Diarrhoea, Malaria, Vaccination

What is Infant Mortality Rate?

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Infant Mortality Rate is defined as determining the number of deaths of infants who are under one year of age per thousand births. In the case of high-value IMR, immediate health needs like sanitation, nutrition and medical care are required.

• Infant mortality rate is a type of age-specific ratio.
• The ratio is used by social scientists, epidemiologists, demographers and physicians.
• Poor sanitation and water quality are the main factors behind high IMR.
• Low birth weight is another cause of worry for an individual.
• Sometimes, these rates are interrelated with war and political corruption.
• Perinatal mortality, Neonatal mortality and postneonatal mortality are three forms of infant mortality rate.

Infant Mortality Rate

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Infant Mortality Rate in India

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The infant mortality rate in India is as follows:

• According to the 2011 census, there has been a considerable reduction in the infant mortality rate from 1971 to 2011.
• It reduced from 129 per 1000 children born in 1971 to 44 in 2011. 
• The rate declined from 51.9% in 1971 to 12.2% in 2011.
• According to the World Bank estimation, the infant mortality rate in India is 28.3% as of 2019.
• As per the latest registration system, the IMR rate in Kerala is 7, and Madhya Pradesh is 48.
• Nagaland has the lowest IMR, which is around 4. 
• According to RBI, the infant mortality rate in Delhi is 13.
• IMR is more in the case of females than in males in most parts of India.
• The results are different in states like Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand. 

Infant Mortality Rate

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Replacement Rate 

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The important points regarding replacement rate in India are as follows:

• If there is an absence in female mortality until the age of childbirth, the replacement rate level of the total fertility rate is almost 2.
• As per recent reports, the TFR in India in 2020 is 2.2.
• The total fertility rate has declined in most parts of India, especially in the Urban areas.
• According to the National Family Health Survey, the lowest TFR was recorded in Sikkim, which was 1.1, in 2019-2020. 
• The fertility rate of women in rural India has dropped in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Maharashtra, Manipur, Nagaland, Bihar and Mizoram.
• In urban India, the replacement fertility rate in twenty-one states except Bihar has remained at 2.4 since 2015-2016. 

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Infant Mortality Rate Formula

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To calculate the infant mortality rate, determine the number of youngsters born alive but died under one year old. In the next step, the number of deaths of the infants is divided by the number of infants born.

• The given result will be multiplied by 1000 which can be represented by the following formula. 

Infant Mortality Rate = (No.of deaths of children less than one year of age / Number of births in the same year) * 1000

• According to the World Health Organization, the infant death rate has decreased from 65 deaths per 1000 live births in 1990 to 29 deaths per 1000 live births in 2018. 
• The annual deaths of infants have been recorded to have declined from 8.7 million in the year 1990 to 4.0 million in 2018.

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Causes of infant mortality rate

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The various causes of infant mortality rate are as follows:

• Birth defects cause a high infant mortality rate.
• It is caused in cases where babies being born like hair lip & palate, mongolism, also as heart defects.
• Premature births of youngsters also are one of the main reasons.
• If the birth of the youngster happens before 37 weeks, it is often called preterm birth.
• Sometimes, children die at the time of the birth because proper treatment isn't given to the baby or after the birth.
• Infections and lack of breathing are the causes of infant mortality rate.
• It is caused by premature birth, during which the baby takes birth before the time.
• Sudden infant death syndrome indicates that a child dies in their sleep.
• If any woman doesn't take proper nutrients and vitamins, then it'll adversely affect the health of the youngsters.
• If the environment of the place isn't good and pollution-free, then there'll be more chances of death.
• At the time of war, women having babies are taking the strain, and it has a nasty impact on the body and its fetus.
• Some trauma is caused at an early age, like physical and mental abuse of a toddler. 

Infant Mortality Rate

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Preventive measures against Infant Mortality Rate

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Let's determine some measures which may help us in reducing the infant mortality rate. These measures are given below:

• The government play an important role in reducing the infant mortality rate.
• They can provide vital education in this regard, thus improving the health sector, especially within rural areas.
• Improving hygiene can act as a positive contributor factor.
• Improvement within the food supplies must be done. 
• Free or low-priced food supplies should be distributed by considering nutrition demands. 
• Women's health & diet must be taken care of.
• According to UNESCO, washing hands with soap after using the toilets or before eating can help save many youngsters' lives.
• Prenatal care and regular check-ups during pregnancy, should be taken care of so that the baby takes birth without complications.
• Taking supplements like vitamins can help reduce the chances of birth defects.
• The mother should have no use of any alcohol or tobacco during pregnancy.
• It can cause serious problems like preterm birth, low weight, etc., which results in infant death rate.
• After birth, breastfeeding for six months should be provided to the kid because it lowers the probability of infant death rate. 
• Providing good and nutritious food to the kids helps to stay healthy. 
• The required vaccinations should be provided to the youngsters at a specified time as per the rules. 
• It'll help to scale back the probabilities by 50% of sudden infant death syndrome.
• Besides these, education is the key to all or any improvements. 
• Awareness should be socialized, which incorporates education, health, hygiene & vaccinations, etc.

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Things to Remember

• Infant Mortality Rate defines the deaths of infants before the completion of one year or before their first birthday. 
• Premature births of youngsters are the main cause behind IMR.
• Perinatal mortality, Neonatal mortality and postneonatal mortality are three types of IMR.
• The upper IMR shows the failure of the health community and society to support healthy births of youngsters. 
• To fight the infant mortality rate, the health of the mother should be taken care of.
• Individuals must be provided with prenatal care and awareness.