RT Book, Section
A1 Fanaroff, Avroy A.
A2 Rudolph, Colin D.
A2 Rudolph, Abraham M.
A2 Lister, George E.
A2 First, Lewis R.
A2 Gershon, Anne A.
SR Print(0)
ID 6734072
T1 Chapter 41. Neonatal Mortality and Morbidity
T2 Rudolph's Pediatrics, 22e
YR 2011
FD 2011
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 978-0-07-149723-7
LK accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=6734072
RD 2024/04/20
AB Infant  mortality  is  an  important  outcome  measure  of  the  health  services  of  a  population.  In  the  United  States,  where  there  are  approximately  4  million  births  each  year,  the  infant  mortality  is  around  7  per  1000  live  births.  The  highest  risk  of  infant  death  is  within  24  hours  of  birth,  but  mortality  and  morbidity  remain  high  during  the  neonatal  period,  from  birth  to  the  28th  day  of  life.  In  the  United  States  each  year,  nearly  1%  of  pregnancies  are  complicated  by  fetal  death  and  about  0.5%  by  neonatal  mortality.1-8The  fetus  and  newborn  are  most  vulnerable  during  labor,  delivery,  and  the  neonatal  period  because  central  nervous  system  injury  may  result  in  lifelong  morbidity  and  neurodevelopmental  impairment.  The  perinatal  period,  from  28  weeks  of  gestation  to  the  28th  day  of  life,  is  the  period  of  greatest  mortality.  In  the  modern  era,  with  survival  of  extremely-low-birth-weight  infants,  postneonatal  mortality  also  contributes  significantly  to  the  infant  mortality  rate.