India at Top in List of 1st Day Deaths of Infants: State of the World’s Mothers’ Report 2013

State of the World’s Mothers’ report 2013 released in first week of May 2013 reported that India holds the record of first day death of newborns than any other country of the world. As per the latest report released, India accounts to more than 309300 deaths of new born on the first day and accounts to 29 percent of the global population.

The basic reason for the deaths of the infants of the first day as per the records of the report are the complications associated with the preterm birth, maternal health and hygiene standards.

The report is based on the survey done on 186 countries came up with the finding that South Asia that accounts for about 24 percent of world’s population recorded 40 percent of the first day death of child. As per the report, the first day death occurs mainly in 10 countries of which the most populated countries like India and Indonesia.

Others countries placed high in the list are Pakistan, Afghanistan and African nations like Nigeria and Ethiopia. The developed countries accounts for only 1 percent of the global first-day deaths. Bangladesh and Pakistan also have a high rate of deaths at 28000 abd 60000 respectively. These deaths are the reason of chronic malnourishment of the mother and other fatalities of the reason. Despite being more populated, China ranks 4th and accounts for only 5% of the global share of first-day deaths.


Identified causes for the first day death of the child includes:
• Complications during birth
• Prematurity and infections, low birth weight (28% of babies in India are underweight)
• Limited access to low-cost, life-saving interventions as the access could cut down the figures by as much as 75 percent
• Early marriage and childbearing heightens the risk for babies further. In India 47 percent girls are married off by the age of 18

As per the report the reason for the deaths in South Asia is the availability of just 14 doctors or nurses over every 10000 people. In the category of Maternal deaths, India is placed at 142nd position among 176 countries with 56000 maternal deaths per year.