When a liveborn baby dies before their first birthday, this is known as infant mortality. The infant mortality rate is the number of deaths in babies less than one year old, per 1,000 live births. This is often used to help us understand overall health and the conditions that people live in. Families who live in deprived areas with poor conditions are more likely to experience the tragic death of a baby.
Infant mortality in Oldham
Between 2019 and 2021 in Oldham, the infant mortality rate was more than 7. The national rate for this time was less than 4.
This means that more babies died before their first birthday in Oldham than in many other places in England.
Risk factors for infant mortality
Some factors increase the chance that a baby will die; these are known as risk factors.
Oldham has higher rates of some risk factors than England as a whole.
These are:
- poverty and poor living conditions
- smoking, or living with someone who smokes, during pregnancy
- teenage pregnancy
- closely related parents e.g., cousins
- poor diet or obesity in pregnancy
- domestic abuse
Other risk factors include:
- poor mental health in pregnancy
- medical conditions
- history of problematic pregnancies
- low birth weight
Oldham priorities for reducing infant mortality
We will focus on 8 key areas to reduce the infant mortality rate.
These will also improve the overall health of all people living in Oldham.
We will:
- Support more pregnant women to stop smoking, and avoid second hand smoke
- Reduce the number of sudden and unexpected infant deaths
- Support more new mothers to breastfeed, and help them to continue if they start
- Improve access to excellent care during pregnancy
- Reduce the number of infant deaths in families with parents who are closely related
- Support women to be a healthy weight in pregnancy
- Support young parents to give their child the best possible start in life
- Reduce the impact of poverty and support families through the cost of living crisis
Full report