Stillbirth and Infant Mortality

Abstract The event of delivery is an especially dangerous time. The baby’s risk of dying is highest during labor and delivery and in the days immediately following birth. Stillbirth and infant mortality are registered by legal mandate and monitored as markers of population health. Infant mortality is also used as a measure of economic development. National wealth is closely correlated with infant mortality, through biological mechanisms that are not entirely clear. This is well illustrated by the decline in infant mortality among the European aristocracy that took place well before the health innovations of the 20th Century. Stillbirth and infant mortality rates around the world continue to fall as economic prosperity increases. Maternal age, smoking, obesity, diabetes, infection, and stress are all risk factors, but specific reasons for the declines in stillbirth and infant mortality over time remain incompletely understood.