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The Diagnosis of Disorders in the Newborn
Author(s) -
Colebatch John H.,
Pitt David B.
Publication year - 1961
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.734
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1479-828X
pISSN - 0004-8666
DOI - 10.1111/j.1479-828x.1961.tb00094.x
Subject(s) - infant mortality , mortality rate , medicine , neonatal mortality , pediatrics , demography , birth rate , population , surgery , environmental health , research methodology , sociology
IN Victoria about 1,600 children die each year. Of these, at least 53 per cent die in the first month of life, and 46 per cent in the first week. There is an undeniable challenge to the medical profession in these figures. In the first year of life the number of deaths per 1,000 live births, i.e. the infant mortality rate, has fallen continuously and dramatically throughout this century. However, although the infant mortality rate has fallen to less than one‐fifth of the rate in 1900, the fall in the neonatal mortality rate has been much less gratifying (Fig. 1). Thus, in this State the infant mortality rate has fallen from 100 in 1900 to 19.2 in 1958, while the neonatal mortality rate has only fallen from 34 in 1900 to 13.5 in 1958. Half a century ago the neonatal period provided 30 per cent of all deaths in the first year of life; today it provides 75 per cent. These figures surely speak for themselves and we must ask ourselves: how often is this loss of neonatal life preventable?