For about a decade, the infant mortality rate has been increasing in France. This is the first time that this phenomenon has occurred in times of peace.
- The modification of civil status practices or that of medical practices for the care of newborns with serious illnesses cannot explain the increase in infant mortality.
- This would be due to an increase in deaths in the early neonatal period.
The trend has existed for several years and nothing seems to explain it. According to a study published in the journal The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, the infant mortality rate has been increasing in France since 2012. This is a sad first for France in times of peace and an important health and societal issue. In fact, the infant mortality rate is defined as the number of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births. Thus, it is often perceived as a key indicator of the health of a population.
Infant mortality: boys more at risk than girls
Between 2001 and 2019, 53,077 infants died among the 14,622,096 live births that took place during this period. Over these almost 20 years, the infant mortality rate is on average 3.63 deaths per 1000 live births, with a slight difference between the sexes: little boys die more than girls. In detail, almost a quarter of deaths – exactly 24.4% – occurred during the first day of life and almost half – 47.8% – took place during the early neonatal period, that is, the first week after birth.
The infant mortality rate has fallen from 3.32 to 3.56 in ten years
To achieve these results, the researchers from Inserm, the University of Paris, the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, the University Hospital of Nantes and the University of California studied civil status data from the National Institute of Statistics and economic studies (INSEE) between 2001 and 2019. According to their results, infant mortality fell sharply from 2001 to 2005 and then more slowly between 2005 and 2012. But it is from this last year, 2012, that the infant mortality rate has started to increase… This 7% increase over nearly 10 years is worrying because, between 2012 and 2019, the infant mortality rate thus rose from 3.32 to 3.56 deaths per 1000 births alive.
A different situation in other European countries
“Thanks to advanced statistical analyses, we have identified a significant worsening of the infant mortality rate in France since 2012, explains Professor Martin Chalumeau, the last author of the study. By comparing the data with other European countries with similar economies such as Sweden and Finland, we observe an excess of around 1,200 deaths of children under the age of one year in France each year.. Indeed, the situation in France is not the same in all countries with developed economies. In Finland or Sweden, for example, the infant mortality rate has been falling steadily since the Second World War.
Understand the reasons for this increase
“It is essential to be able to explore in detail the causes of this increase (in France) by having, for example, systematic information on the precise medical and social circumstances of these deaths and by making this population, which is the most vulnerable, a real research and public health priority, which is not currently the case ”, concludes Professor Martin Chalumeau. A call for further research to better understand the reasons for this increase in infant mortality.
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