Abstract

PIP: Social, cultural and economic factors, beside medical causes, contribute to the high percentage of infant mortality in India. This study was carried out in 12 villages in the area of the Rural Health Training Centre, Naila, India; all villages were being regularly visited by paramedical staff and doctors. During 1977 62 infants died. Most parents were illiterate and very poor. 50.3% of deaths occurred within the first 28 days of life, and 25.8% within the first 7 days of life; 72.8% of deaths occurred within the first 6 months of life. Infections and malnutrition accounted for 77.3% of all deaths; pneumonia alone claimed 25.8% of lives, malnutrition 19.3%, fever for unknown reasons 16.1%, diarrhea 14.5% and prematurity 12.9%. Deaths for pneumonia were 56.3% in the postneonatal period and 43.7% in the neonatal period, while fever predominated as a cause of death in the neonatal rather than in postneonatal period, with 70% and 30% of deaths respectively. 56.4% of deaths were recorded among children born to mothers aged 21-30, 30.7% among children of mothers over 30, and 12.9% among children of mothers below 20. 51.6% of dead children had a birth order of 5 and over; only 17.8% had first birth order. 50.1% of deaths were observed in infants who were born less than 12 months from the previous conception. Similar studies done in other Indian regions show similar percentages of infant mortality and of causes for mortality.