Katherine Taylor's Profile

Most neonatal deaths (99%) arise in low-income and middle-income countries, and about half occur at home. In poor communities, many babies who die are unnamed and unrecorded, indicating the perceived inevitability of their deaths

Regional or country variations in NMRs and numbers of neonatal deaths, showing the proportion of deaths in children younger than age 5 years^{1, 9, 10 and 11}

Only 1% of these deaths were in 39 high-income countries, where the average NMR is four per 1000 livebirths (table 1). The remaining 99% of deaths were in low-income and middle-income countries, where the average NMR is estimated to be 33.¹

The neonatal period is only 28 days and yet accounts for 38% of all deaths in children younger than age 5 years.

8 million babies are estimated to be born with low birthweights every year—half in south Asia.⁹ Although these low-birthweight babies constitute only about 14% of children born, they account for 60–80% of neonatal deaths.¹⁶ Low birthweight arises through short gestation (preterm birth) or in-utero growth restriction, or both.¹⁹ We estimate that 28% of neonatal deaths globally are directly attributable to preterm birth

Poverty is an underlying cause of many neonatal deaths, either through increasing the prevalence of risk factors such as maternal infection, or through reducing access to effective care

disparity in stillbirths and neonatal deaths between the richest and poorest 20% of the population that has persisted for almost 20 years

In sub-Saharan Africa, less than 40% of women deliver with skilled care and in south Asia the figure is less than 30%. Across 40 countries with DHS data between 1995 and 2003, more than 50% of neonatal deaths arose after a home birth with no skilled care. Within sub-Saharan African and south Asian countries for which DHS data are available, the NMR is consistently higher and the coverage of skilled care consistently lower in rural areas.

Elimination of the mortality gap between the richest and poorest within countries in sub-Saharan Africa and within three south Asian countries could avert almost 0·75 million deaths.

But if an extra dollar of income improves the health of low-income infants more than that of high-income infants, reducing income inequality while leaving mean income unchanged will reduce infant mortality.

inequality affects health and mortality mainly because it affects the level and distribution of material resources.

Infants born in states with high levels of economic inequality have a greater chance of dying in the first year than infants born in states with lower levels of inequality.

Inequality is associated with an increase in economic segregation, which increases infant deaths.