Babies pay for poverty with their lives

from The Yorkshire Post

John Roberts

BABIES in Yorkshire are dying needlessly because of poverty, poor housing and a low level of mothers breastfeeding, a major new investigation has revealed.

A study into why babies born in Bradford are more likely to die before their first birthday than anywhere else in the region is to be published today by the district's Infant Mortality Commission.

A copy of the report, obtained by the Yorkshire Post, identifies poverty as one of the reasons for the high number of babies in Bradford who die and highlights poor nutrition, women not breastfeeding and poor take-up of immunisation as issues to tackle.

It also calls for the creation of a regional register to ensure all infant deaths caused by genetic disorders are properly recorded. The report says that babies born in the most deprived fifth of neighbourhoods in Bradford are five times more likely to die in their first year of life than those born in the most affluent parts of the district.

Reducing poverty and unemployment and improving the quality of housing are also key to tackling the problem, according to the commission.

And it warns that the number of babies who die in Bradford could increase if no action is taken.

The city has the highest infant mortality rate in the Yorkshire region, with 9.1 deaths per 1000 births compared with a national average of 5.3.

Every year between 60 and 70 babies die in Bradford before they reach their first birthday. That figure represents about one per cent of all babies born in the district.
The Infant Mortality Commission was set up by the publicly-funded agency Bradford Vision to investigate the problem.

High infant death rates have been an issue in Bradford for almost century with the first investigation carried out in 1915.

The new report says women from poorer social economic groups in Bradford are less likely to breastfeed than more affluent women.

It also reveals that over an eight-year period there were 21 infant deaths from severe infection, meningitis and septicaemia in Bradford – two thirds of which could have been avoided through breastfeeding, early management of the infections and immunisation. The commission is now calling for a drive to increase the take-up of immunisation programmes for babies and infants.

Babies born to mothers of Pakistani origin in Bradford are twice as likely to die before their first birthday than those born to white mothers, according to the report.

About 88 per cent of Pakistani-origin babies are born into the most deprived two fifths of neighbourhoods in Bradford, compared with 41 per cent of white babies.
The report also high-lights congenital anomalies as being a more likely cause of death for Pakistani- origin babies.