Some babies are more likely to die than others. Since 2012, there has been a significant increase in infant mortality in France. More specifically, this acceleration is mainly due to the increase in neonatal mortality (death between the birth and day 28 of the baby).
While life expectancy is progressing and the mortality of the oldest is going back, France has experienced a worrying stagnation of infant mortality, or even a slight increase since 2020 and this after decades of drops without suspending.
Worse, France signs one of the worst performances in this area in Europe, occupying position 23 of 27 while he was at the head in 1990.
In 2022, the infant mortality rate (mortality during the first year of life) reached 4.5 ‰ among boys and 3.7 ‰ among girls for all France (4.3 ‰ and 3.6 ‰ in the France continent), he says The INEDagainst respectively 3.5 ‰ and 3.0 ‰ on average in the EU.
A quite mysterious fall that experts are struggling to explain. In his investigation, the INED before some clues.
Immigrants, tenants, single -child
“Medical factors and health status of mothers, territorial and social inequalities of access to care, management quality or even the improvement of the management of large premature ones that allow certain newborns to survive a few hours or days before dying.”
The question of inequalities seems to be an important key to understanding the phenomenon. A new study, published on Tuesday, September 16 in the medical magazine BMJ Medicine, sought to know what the most affected territories and populations were. The results show that mothers in inhabitants in socio -economicly disadvantaged municipalities are more likely to see their children die in the first days after their birth.
To achieve this result, the Insers Research Team, the Cité of the University of Paris, Inrae, the University of Paris Nord and the APHP have developed a social disadvantage index. Compare several factors associated with the state of health of newborns in previous studies: the unemployment rate, the percentage of immigrants in the sector, the proportion of tenants, single -parent families and average income per household.
A mortality rate 1.7 times higher
Then, scientists crossed this indicator with the neonatal mortality rate, and the results highlight important inequalities. Therefore, the children of the most disadvantaged municipalities have a risk of dying in their first 28 days 1.7 times higher compared to the children of the most favored municipalities (3.34 deaths per 1,000 births against 1.95 deaths).
To explain this phenomenon, we can mention characteristics that are statistically related to the socioeconomic level, such as overweight, smoking and exposure to pollution, and that lead to a greater risk of prematurity or small weight at birth in the baby, which are risk factors for neonatal death.
According to the study, ethical and personal considerations could also play a role, such as the decision to use or not a medical interruption of pregnancy for certain fetal diseases.
Avoidable deaths?
But scientists also call to see the organization of our care system.
“In addition, the strong occupation rates in the units that care for newborns in critical condition together with the subefficient could also be a hypothesis between the causes to explore.”
“According to a recent analysis of high health authority (HA), 57% of serious adverse events linked to attention in newborns, such as deaths, could have been avoided,” Jennifer Zeitlin also remembers.
The researcher asks “to improve the organization of the offer of care and conditions to take care of patients, especially in the most fragile territories”, thanks to the “strengthening of personnel, a better training of caregivers and infrastructure adapted, for example.”
Source: BFM TV
