ArticleJournal of public health (Oxford, England)2021
Are infant mortality rates increasing in England? The effect of extreme prematurity and early neonatal deaths.
Article in Journal of public health (Oxford, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Global prevalence of neonatal mortality in preterm infants: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Pooled it
- Maternal socioeconomic status and neonatal mortality in OECD countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Evaluating a neonatal public health education and empowerment programme to reduce infant mortality risks: insights from parents and facilitators in the midlands, UK.Frontiers in global women's health · 2026Article
- Trends in neonatal mortality on the first day of life in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Maternal and pregnancy factors contributing to the association between area deprivation and infant mortality in England: a retrospective cohort study.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2024Article
- Parental income gradients in child and adolescent mortality: Norwegian trends over half a century.Scandinavian journal of public health · 2024Article
- Regional Disparities in the Infant Mortality Rate in Korea Between 2001 and 2021.Journal of Korean medical science · 2023Article
- Adverse infant outcomes following low-risk pregnancies in England: a retrospective cohort study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Article
- Perinatal mortality in Ireland: inequalities by socio-economic group and country of birth.European journal of public health · 2023Article
- Trends, influencing factors and prediction analysis of under-five and maternal mortality rates in China from 1991 to 2020.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Trends in hospital admissions during transition from paediatric to adult services for young people with learning disabilities or autism: Population-based cohort study.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2023Article
- Effect of national guidance on survival for babies born at 22 weeks' gestation in England and Wales: population based cohort study.BMJ medicine · 2023Article
- Recent historic increase of infant mortality in France: A time-series analysis, 2001 to 2019.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2022Article
- Article
- Trends in infant mortality and stillbirth rates in Scotland by socio-economic position, 2000-2018: a longitudinal ecological study.BMC public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundInfant mortality has been rising in England since 2014. We examined potential drivers of these trends.
methodsWe used aggregate data on all live births, stillbirths and linked infant deaths in England in 2006-2016 from the Office for National Statistics. We compared trends in infant mortality rates overall, excluding births at <24 weeks of gestation, by quintile of SES and gestational age.
resultsInfant mortality decreased from 4.78 deaths/1000 live births in 2006 to 3.54/1000 in 2014 (annual decrease of 0.15/1000) and increased to 3.67/1000 in 2016 (annual increase of 0.07/1000). This rise was driven by increases in deaths at 0-6 days of life. After excluding infants born at <24 weeks of gestation, infant mortality continued to decrease after 2014. The risk of infant death was 94% higher in the most versus least deprived SES quintile, which reduced to a 55% higher risk after adjusting for gestational age.
conclusionsThe observed increase in infant mortality rates since 2014 is wholly explained by an increasing number of deaths at 0-6 days of age among babies born at <24 weeks of gestation. Policies focused on improving maternal health to reduce preterm birth could substantially reduce the socio-economic gap in infant survival.
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