Essay - Infant Mortality Thesis Infant Mortality, Though on the Decline, is...

Infant Mortality

Thesis

Infant mortality, though on the decline, is still a serious health concern in the United States and Philadelphia presents the worst-case scenario. Though government sponsored programs have helped mitigate the crisis there is still a lot to be done in terms of enabling easy access of quality maternity care ***** people from diverse economic, ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

Introduction

Infant mortality is a serious concern worldwide *****nd infant mortality rate is considered an indicator of the health standard ***** a nation. In the United States, over the last few decades *****re has been a steady drop in the *****fant mortality rates indicating a positive change in maternal health care facilities. The infant mortality rate, which was as high as 96.5 per 1000 live births in the early part of 20th century h***** now dropped considerably to 6.8 per 1,000 ***** births as projected by the 2001 stat*****tics. However ***** some regions like Philadelphia the problem is acute. West Philadelphia for example, suffers the distinction of being the city with the highest infant mortality rate, one that is almost double the national average. There are many reasons, ***** contribute to this negative health picture in the region. Let us analyze ***** issue of infant ***** in a little detail so that we may gain better insight in***** the problem and try to find out remedial measures for the same.

***** Mortality (An Overview)

***** mortality by definition refers ***** the 'death of *****s that occur *****in the first year of their life." The infant mortality rate is the "number ***** infant deaths within ***** ***** year of life per 1,000 live ***** per year". [UDOH]. Infant deaths fall under the following two categories namely perinatal deaths ***** neonatal *****. Perinatal deaths include fetal deaths, those that occur after 20 or m*****e weeks of gestation, and deaths that occur within the first 28 days after delivery of the baby. Neonatal ***** refer to infant deaths that ***** ***** 28 days ***** birth and within ***** *****. This classification serves ***** provide us with a better picture of the actual conditions that result in infant *****. It has to be noted however, *****, in general ***** conditions that orig*****ate in the per*****atal period are responsible for the large proportion of deaths in the neonatal period.

***** (A Special Case)

Nationwide, the infant mortality rate has ***** steadily decreasing projecting a positive trend in pedi*****tric health *****. In Philadelphia, ***** ***** mortality is showing a gradual decline over the last decade, the mortality rate is still very high comp*****d to the ***** average. One reason for this poor scenario in ***** is ***** clear contrast that exists in health care ***** *****tween the rich and poor communities. For example ***** University City ***** Mantua, ***** neighborhood regions in Philadelphia present a good contr*****st of wealth and poverty side by side. Speaking of ***** disparity Ms. Whelan,a Senior nurse in Mantua says, "Here we are blocks away from major medical centers, and