The Doctor Is In: Infant Mortality Comparisons a Statistical Miscarriage


A: U.S. infant mortality rates (deaths of infants <1 year of age per 1,000 live births) are sometimes cited as evidence of the failings of the U.S. system of health care delivery. Universal health care, it's argued, is why babies do better in countries with socialized medicine.

But in fact, the main factors affecting early infant survival are birth weight and prematurity. The way that these factors are reported -- and how such babies are treated statistically -- tells a different story than what the numbers reveal.

Low birth weight infants are not counted against the "live birth" statistics for many countries reporting low infant mortality rates.




According to research done by Canada's Bureau of Reproductive and Child Health, "Comparisons of infant mortality rates by place and time should be adjusted for the proportion of such live births, especially if the comparisons involve recent years."

Norway boasts one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world. But when the main determinant of mortality -- weight at birth -- is factored in, Norway has no better survival rates than the United States.