Infant Mortality Rate In Canada

Infant mortality rate is the given number of deaths of infants under one year old in a given year per 1,000 live births in the same year. Infant mortality rates are often used as an indicator to measure the health and well-being of a country, because factors affecting the mortality rate of infants can also impact the health of an entire population. It can also reflect economic and social conditions, as well as the effectiveness of the health care systems. In regards to Canada, we currently have a population of 36,286,378 and are ranked 2nd in highest early infant mortality rates for a developed country, at 4.59 deaths per 1,000 live births estimated in 2015. This is a shockingly high statistic of a country at Canada’s level of socio-economic

In fact, studies show that the number of Aboriginal teenage mothers who are single parents are higher than non-Aboriginals and have remained high since 1986 at about 100 births per 1,000 women -- a rate seven times higher than other Canadian teenagers today. This data also supports the fact that Aboriginal students have a higher rate at which they drop out of high school compared to non-Aboriginals in Canada. As sexual education is offered in high school, they may never learn about birth control or how to deal with an early

However, non-Aboriginals do contribute to the 4.59 deaths per 1,000 live births estimated in 2015 also. The causes of such high infant mortality rate “strongly correlated to those structural factors, like economic development, general living conditions, social well-being, and the quality of the environment, that affect the health of entire populations,” according to a 2003 article in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Other researchers suggest that Canada’s has the ability to decrease the number of infant mortality by being skilled to deliver more preterm babies and babies with very low birth weight but these babies are faced with a higher risk of death. Statistics Canada report that the increase of infant mortality rates are usually due to the deaths of infants less than one day old. New technologies have served to help with high-risk deliveries however they have a higher risk of early death, new fertility programs also result in more multiple births which these babies are usually born preterm with a higher risk of early death also. These medical and methodological factors certainly play a role in Canada’s infant mortality