The first thing we are going to do before entering fully into the meaning of the term infant mortality is to discover the etymological origin of the two words that give it shape:
-Mortality, first of all, derives from Latin, specifically from "mortalitas", which can be translated as "mortality."
-Children's, secondly, also comes from Latin. In the case of "infantilis", which means "relating to babies" and is the result of the sum of the following lexical components: the prefix "in-", which is used to indicate "negation"; the verb "fari", which is equivalent to "speak"; the component "-nt-", which is used to indicate "agent", and finally the suffix "-il", which indicates "weakness" or "trait".
The notion of mortality is usually used with reference to the number of deaths that occur in a region during a given period , whether from a specific cause or in general.
Infantile , meanwhile, is an adjective that mentions what is linked to childhood (the first stage of life, which goes from birth to puberty).
With these ideas clear, it is easy to understand the concept of infant mortality . This is the name given to the indicator that expresses the number of deaths of children up to 1 year of age per 1,000 live births .
Infant mortality is calculated up to the first year of life since this period is considered to be the most critical for people's subsistence. Once that period is over, the chances of survival grow exponentially.
Countries considered to have a higher infant mortality rate right now include India, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, China and even Ethiopia.
It is important to highlight that infant mortality is linked to free health services and the level of poverty . When the quality of health services is poor and/or when poverty is very marked, a higher infant mortality rate is recorded.
Likewise, among the most common diseases that cause the death of children are some such as pneumonia, malaria, diarrhea or infections contracted before or during childbirth.
It should be noted that if death occurs before birth, it can be referred to as abortion (up to week 20 of pregnancy) or fetal death (between approximately week 20 and 28). In perinatal mortality , for its part, cases of deaths occurring between 28 weeks of pregnancy and the first week of life are recorded. Neonatal mortality is also sometimes referred to if the death occurs between birth and 28 days.
Among the measures that are considered to be able to reduce infant mortality rates are the existence of safe drinking water throughout the world, an improvement in children's nutrition, greater and better sanitation conditions and even sanitary measures for end or reduce cases of malaria and the other diseases mentioned.