Pattern of Infant Mortality in Titabor Block of Jorhat District, Assam

Abstract

Introduction: Death of infants is not only tragic but also one of the leading public health problems in developing nations like India. Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) is defined as the probability of dying between birth and exactly one year of age expressed as per 1,000 live births. The study was conducted to study the pattern of infant mortality in Titabor block of Jorhat district of Assam.2. Methodology: The study was a record based descriptive study. Retrospective data were taken from records which were main- tained at Titabor Block PHC. All the records of infants born from1stApril 2014 to 31stMarch 2016 were considered in this study. Results: Most of the death occurred in early neonatal period fol- lowed by post- neonatal period and late-neonatal period. More death occurred in male infants. It was found that the most com- mon cause of death remained unknown (19.78%) followed by birth asphyxia (15.38%), septicaemia (13.74%) and VLBW (13.19%). Conclusion: The present study concludes that the infant mortality was due to preventable causes of death. This emphasizes the need to improve the quality of antenatal and perinatal care. The high deaths due to undiagnosed cases call for strengthening of health care centre through better diagnostic equipments, human resource development, early recognition of danger signs by health workers through rigorous and periodical training and timely referral.

Keywords

• Infant death
• IMR
• Infant Mortality Rate
• birth asphyxia