U.S. Newborn Death Rate Higher Than Cuba, Malaysia

A new report from PLoS Medicine has disappointing data for the developing world and the United States.

U.S. babies are more likely to die during the first month of life than babies born in dozens of other countries, including Poland, Cuba and Malaysia, CBS notes.

“Prenatal care is not all created equal. There are areas of the United States where access to prenatal and preventive care is a real problem. It puts the mother at a disadvantage and contributes to premature births and death rate,” the study’s author Dr. Joy Lawn told CNN.

News Hour also points out that, according to the report, 99 percent of newborn deaths occur in the developing world.

However, the study revealed that fewer newborns are dying worldwide, but that Africa is falling behind the rest of the world, according to the World Health Organization. Africa has seen the least progress of any region in the world, with a reduction of just 1 percent a year.

The study is a 20-year analysis of newborn death rates around the world.

Comments

[NotEve]

06:07 PM on 09/04/2011

But, but, I thought we had "the BEST healthcare system in the world!" ?!

*eyeroll*

[AnimlNitr8]

12:35 PM on 09/04/2011

they are blaming it on prenatal care? really? why not blame it on doctors and nurses who can't resist on intervening because they treat birth like it's a disease rather than a natural process (and also because they don't want to have to wait for the process to actually happen and like to give drugs and use all sorts of expensive equipment to rush birth along)? or why not blame it on the fact that most hospitals are not breastfeeding friendly and will push formula on mom and baby before taking the time to make sure a good breastfeeding relationship is built? or how about the fact that children in the u.s. receive more vaccines than any children in any other country in the world...starting with a vaccine given on the first day of life for a disease that they won't get unless their mom is hep b positive or they are running around having unprotected sex and sharing needles...?! or how about the fact that the fda and usda allows all sorts of crap in our food that other countries ban? i'm sure there are more reasons than one for this and it very likely ISN'T due to prenatal care!

[NotEve]

06:22 PM on 09/04/2011

Because pre-natal care is the single most important factor influencing newborn death rates.

- while your criticisms regarding the industrialization/hospitalization of the birth process have some legitimacy in increasing unnecessary medical interventions, they aren't really relevant in driving up newborn death rates.

- Likewise, breastfeeding is an issue related to longterm health and health outcomes, not so much newborn death rates. Bottle fed newborn's aren't more likely to die in the first month of life than breastfed.

- I'm not really going to wade into this conspiracy theorist quagmire. Lets suffice it to say that the ONE vaccine given in the first month of life is not a factor influencing newborn death rates.

- As for "crap in our food," this either speaks directly to the need for pre-natal care and counseling or its not relevant to a breast/formula fed newborn - unless you're talking about contaminated bottle formula, but thats also not a big factor driving up the US newborn death rates.

[hjmarrangoni]

11:12 AM on 09/04/2011

The GOP are "pro-life" but against funding health care for disadvantaged people. Does this make sense to you? The only sense it makes to me is that the GOP position on pro-life only exists to obtain the Christian Conservative vote and support.It seems to me that if the GOP were serious about pro-life , they would also be serious about ensuring the availability of quality prenatal and postnatal medical care for all Americans. As it stands now the GOP is pro-life for disadvantaged Americans and pro-choice for the rich.

[Made in the USA]

03:41 PM on 09/02/2011

US ranks 41 in newborn mortality report [NBC 8-31-2011]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSsmmWgbVnc

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that our mainstream news refuses to connect our profit-driven health care system to this infant mortality report. And no word from them about which groups it most affects either. But I'm sure we can take an educated guess.

Anyway, forgive me for this depressing news, but, like many, I'm alarmed about the state of our democracy. A political system that has increasingly developed around large contributions from private industry, e.g. financial institutions, big pharma and health insurance companies, cannot be good for ordinary people. In fact, I sense that we are stuck in a vicious cycle that will have devastating consequences.

So what do we do? Continue to vote for politicians that represent these corporate interests?

In the past people organized and, at times, made modest gains -- and we are a more civilized society because of it. We still organize, but it is often fragmented. We will no doubt need a powerful coalition to create significant change in this area.

[Dr Bob]

10:25 AM on 09/03/2011

The sad truth is we spend more on health care per capita than any other nation, yet the outcomes remain horrible. While I am a proponent of universal health care and routinely bash the profit motive, I don't think that the Profit Monster is a major player here. I think there are 2 major issues here, one of which is access to prenatal care at a time when an intervention will make a major difference in the baby's health. The other issue is that doctors and hospitals get paid for providing prenatal services. However, no one looks at the quality of care which is being provided. Quality is often not assessed until after the patient is discharged or has left the office, which is the equivalent of locking the barn after the horse has left. We need to be assessing quality of care in real time and not after the fact. Only then will outcomes improve.

[NotEve]

06:24 PM on 09/04/2011

Agreed, although I think you meant to say that "Dr's and hospitals 'don't' get paid for providing prenatal services" ...or at least aren't adequately reimbursed.

[TomMartin]

10:04 PM on 09/01/2011

I might believe the statistics from Poland and Malaysia, but I sure don't believe the Cuban statistics. I came from a Communist country, and they lied on their statistics constantly.

[NotEve]

06:25 PM on 09/04/2011

For all of its faults, Cuba does actually have a very good and efficient healthcare system.

[TomMartin]

08:19 AM on 09/06/2011

Unfortunately we are not free to travel to Cuba and see for ourselves if you are right. But in Communist Czechoslovakia I experienced some problems, including an incompetent doctor who thought I didn't have a broken leg when I did.

[Craig KeyWest]

06:24 PM on 09/01/2011

When's the last time you asked your insurance agent for a physical? He's the one saying bend over.

[nowGo4ward]

02:29 AM on 09/01/2011

I think we try to "help" our infants a little too much.

http://het.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/05/04/0960327111407644

[Heather XW]

07:18 AM on 09/01/2011

and....

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17484223

and.....

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21093496

[PeeWeesHerman]

09:50 PM on 08/31/2011

free prenatal and neonatal care is available....so that begs the question,why is this happening and to whommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

[ProgressiveInTexas]

08:05 PM on 08/31/2011

3.3 Million new borns died becasue of lack of prenatal and neonatal care....
1.3 Million fetuses terminated by abortions...

I would say that the "Right to Life" hypoctits need to get their act straight and start pusing for Universal Health Care which would save far more lives that a total ban on abortions....

[stape45]

04:19 PM on 08/31/2011

In a study spearheaded by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in collaboration with Commonweal, researchers at two major laboratories found an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants in umbilical cord blood.

[stape45]

04:02 PM on 08/31/2011

For-profit healthcare; for-profit food production; for-profit medication. Enough said.

[AnimlNitr8]

12:43 PM on 09/04/2011

totally agree. more like a sick-care system than a healthcare system though. sick people are much more profitable than healthy people.

[Jeannette Day]

02:54 PM on 08/31/2011

I read somewhere that what america considers a newborn is vastly different from other countries. In other countries babies born before a certain number of weeks gestation (35??) and subsequently die are considered miscarriages, while in america, they are counted in the infant mortality stats.

[onionboy]

04:32 PM on 08/31/2011

I keep hearing this excuse, but here's a table where everyone's on the same definition, and they're looking at kids up to 1 year old, which would wash out most of the noise associated with a definition difference as you've described, particularly because it would be a much larger pool. It's no improvement. We need to accept that our healthcare is not the best in the world anymore. We have the best medical training, but we don't make it available to most of our citizens.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mortality_rate

[AnimlNitr8]

12:47 PM on 09/04/2011

i don't even believe we have the best medical training anymore. our doctors and nurses are brainwashed in their schooling to live by the mantra of big pHARMa that there is a pill for every ill rather than learning about nutrition or other areas that would help people to get well without pills. we don't have a healthcare system anymore. we have a sick-care system where they don't cure people, they only manage disease symptoms and prescribe more and more pills to cover each subsequent side-effect.

[Waterphoneman]

02:53 PM on 08/31/2011

So much for our great medical system. There is too much hype and not enough good doctoring in the USA. Be careful America as your doctor may help to kill you or yours.

[NotEve]

06:32 PM on 09/04/2011

Ah yes, our health problems are all our doctors' faults.

I suppose that you also blame your mechanic for all the problems with your car that you haven't maintained or taken good care of?

[iridium53]

12:58 PM on 08/31/2011

American exceptionalism in healthcare.