Born equal? A briefing on inequalities in infant mortality in London
Written by admin on Monday, August 13, 2007 10:06
LHO calls for better targeted maternity servies for the capital
If babies born to poorer households had the same chance of surviving their first year of life as their better off counterparts, 41 young lives would be saved in London every year, the London Health Observatory (LHO) says in its latest report looking at infant deaths.
LHO Director Dr Bobbie Jacobson said: “Our report Born Equal? reveals a picture where babies most at risk of dying in their first year are born to mothers living in the most deprived parts of the capital. The burden of infant deaths is concentrated in poorer households in east and north London - double the rate in well-heeled areas. But, when we looked at local level we found that all but three of London’s most affluent boroughs have high risk neighbourhoods.”
Report key findings
- Children born to lone mothers have a high mortality rate of 8.9 deaths per 1,000 live births
- Children born to mothers from outside the UK have a higher risk of death at 10.9 to mothers from West Africa to 8.5 for mothers from the Caribbean
- Children born to mothers under 20 have a high mortality rate of 8.7 deaths per 1,000 live births
- Children born to mothers from poorer households have an infant mortality rate of 6.7 per 1.000 live births.
“Our analysis shows that there is room for improvement in every PCT in London, even in areas where infant mortality is currently lower than the average. We must ensure that all women, particularly those from at-risk minority groups, benefit from early access to maternity care. But, to target care and track progress effectively we need good quality maternity data, and this has not been available across the board. We would like to see a big improvement in data collection from all hospital trusts in the future,” Dr Jacobson said.
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