Infant mortality

Infant mortality refers to the number of deaths of infants (aged 0-1) in any given year per 1000 live births¹. The most common causes of death before one year of age are conditions originating in the perinatal period and congenital conditions². Other common causes of death in this period are Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, injury and accidental threats to breathing².

Known risks associated with incidence of infant mortality include social and economic factors such as low income, unemployment, teenage motherhood, and mother’s education^3,4. As such, infant mortality can be used as an indicator of the general wellbeing of a population and as an indicator of the accessibility, quality, and performance of the health system in maternal and perinatal health⁵.

As infant mortality is associated with both social and economic factors and healthcare quality and access it can be used by policy makers and health providers to give insight into the health of mothers and babies as well as the broader population in a region. Therefore, combined with other factors, infant mortality can be used to inform policy, strategy and intervention to support child health and development.

REFERENCES

1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [Internet]. Canberra ACT. Australia's health 2016; Chapter 5.3 How Healthy Are Australia's Children? 2016 [cited 2018 May 15]. Available from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/australias-health-2016/contents/summary
2. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [Internet]. Canberra ACT. Deaths in Australia. 2017 [cited 2018 May 15]. Available from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/life-expectancy-death/deaths-in-australia/contents/life-expectancy
3. Gracey M, King M. Indigenous Health Part 1: Determinants and Disease Patterns. Lancet, 2009; 374(9683):65-75. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60914-4
4. Marmot M. Health in an unequal world: Social circumstances, biology and disease. Clinical Medicine, 2006; 6(6):559. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17228555 
5. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [Internet]. Canberra ACT. Infant Mortality: Mortality rate for infants less than 1 year of age. 2017. [cited 2018 May 15]. Available from: http://analytics.aihw.gov.au/Viewer/VisualAnalyticsViewer_guest.jsp?reportPath=%2FAIHW%2FReleasedPublic%2FCHI%2FReports%2F2017&reportName=Infant%20mortality&reportViewOnly=true&viewerMode=modern&commentsEnabled=false&propertiesEnabled=false&appSwitcherDisabled=true

Data Source

Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages

Numerator

Number of deaths among infants  (aged <1 year)

Denominator

Number of live births

Unit of Measure

per 1,000 live births

Geography

SA3

Data Confidentiality

Areas with a numerator less than 5 have been supressed

Notes

Because of small numbers of deaths each year data are presented in 5-year (total population) groupings.