US has the second worst newborn mortality rate in Industrialized World

It's so hard to believe, being raised in the early 60's all I heard was how we were #1 in everything including health care. I really do not understand why this has happened, every year we seem to be hitting a new low in health care. It's ridiculous that we are scoring this low, why isn't the gov. doing something about it?

Has this even been reported in the mainstream media? I watch very little of the mainstream media anymore, since I discovered they were more or less putting out propaganda.

www.democracynow.org.../05/11/1445238

Study: US Second-Worst Newborn Mortality in Industrialized World
In health news, a new study has found the US has the second-worst newborn mortality rate in the industrialized world, second only to Latvia. According to Save The Children, the country’s high rate of newborn mortality disproportionately affects minorities. African American babies are twice as likely as white babies to be born prematurely, have low-birth weight and to die at birth. Overall, more than 4 million babies worldwide die within their first month of birth.

[edit on 12-5-2006 by goose]

Hmmmm its a intersting source with no studies or link cited just a blurb on some web site

Here is a list that is a bit more informative

Infant Mortality

Here is a far more informative study showing infant mortality by ethnic group.

www.cdc.gov...

[edit on 5/12/06 by FredT]

That the US has a high infant mortality rate is understandable if you remember:

Many Americans are:

poor
use drugs (even while pregnant)
don't have health insurance, or have adequate access to health care
have poor nutrition (for the child and while pregnant, despite being overweight)

We also have a lot of pollution, falling literacy rates, high rates of domestic/child abuse, etc. These are the kind of things that can lead to higher infant mortality.

I could go on and on, but some of the countries with lower rates do not have as many of the above problems that Americans do. Some of the countries are less industrialized (so less pollution) or have universal health care. This does make a difference.

The truth is that our healthcare system is pretty good, but it is in trouble.

That is why there is so much debate in Washington on the subject. I think the failure to control infant mortality rate is just one symptom the decline of the healthcare system in the US. If something isn't done about it pretty soon it could collapse.

CNN did report this, so I guess I answer my own question and the stats are correct. It was a state of the world's mothers report, and the US is indeed at the bottom of the list except for the one country. here is the link with a more complete story.

www.cnn.com...

We do not have a health care 'system' - it is an industry without the usual market based incentives. If you're lucky enough to work for a large employer - you may have quality insurance - which may give you access to quality health care. Note I used the word may intentionally.

We've based access to health care on employment for the majority of our people and yet, employers are not mandated to provide health insurance. Seems a little backwards to me. And for those employers that do provide health insurance, they are finding it more and more difficult to compete on a global basis with the exponential increases in insurance rates.

Time magazine - May 1, 2006 - has an article - Q. What Scares Doctors Most; A. Being a Patient

www.time.com...

What are we getting for our money? It's a sad day when 'buyer beware' applies to seeing a doctor or going into the hospital in the most powerful nation in the world.

Always,
Shawnna


[edit on 12-5-2006 by Shawnna]

Maybe just a coincidence but when you go to the page at the cdc.gov, to look at infant mortality rates

www.cdc.gov...

and click on ifant mortality page you get

www.cdc.gov...
The page you requested cannot be found at this time. It may be temporarily unavailable or it may have been removed.

Ask for a graph showing the rate of SIDS by year.
(Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
Thats what we are talking about right?

See if you can get that info. I can't find it anywhere.
I have my own suspicions why the rate is increasing.

Originally posted by MonoIonic_Gold
Ask for a graph showing the rate of SIDS by year.
(Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
Thats what we are talking about right?

No SIDS or SUdden Infant Death Syndrome is a different beast but does factor into Infant mortality studies. It also hits minorities such as African Americans and American Indians at a much higher rate

African American babies are twice as likely to die from SIDS as white babies.
American Indian babies are nearly three times more likely to die of SIDS than white babies.
www.nichd.nih.gov...

nowadays everyone thinks we are awsome because we are americans. not enough of us are doing anythin about it.