The U.S. infant mortality rate is twice that of other developed countries. (Photo by Jill Sauve, Unsplash) |
U.S. infant mortality rate is strikingly high at "double that of many developed countries," Whyte notes. "Globally, baby death rates have fallen for decades, though five countries that have reported their rates this year recorded increases for last year. . . . The death rate for women who give birth has also been rising in the U.S. Researchers who study the issues said the pair of trends indicate more women giving birth are facing challenges getting proper care."
Arjumand Siddiqi, a University of Toronto professor who studies population health, told Whyte, "The U.S. is falling behind on a basic indicator of how well societies treat people. In a country as well-resourced as the U.S., with as much medical technology and so on, we shouldn't have babies dying in the first year of life. That should be super rare, and it's not."
American medicine needs to do the basics better. (Photo by Filip Mroz, Unspash) |
The CDC reports infant-mortality rates every three months. "Its latest report compared birth and death certificate data from 2021 to provisional data from 2022," Whyte adds. "The report didn't give reasons why the rate was increasing, and researchers said they would have to do more studies to determine the root causes." Dr. Elizabeth Cherot, chief executive of the infant and maternal health nonprofit March of Dimes, told Whyte: "We, as a developed country, should be doing some of the basics better. Too many babies are dying in the United States."
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