Infant mortality up for second year in a row

THE number of infant deaths went up last year in another reversal of the trend towards greater survival of babies.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that in England and Wales the number of deaths among infants – babies below one year of age – reached 2,651 in 2016, up from 2,578 in 2015.

It was the second year running in which numbers and rates of infant deaths went up following 40 years of steady improvement of survival rates for babies. There was no explanation of why from the ONS.

But officials pointed to a series of contributory factors, including high mortality rates among babies born to mothers from some ethnic groups, and higher rates among babies born to younger and poorer mothers, and those who are unmarried. It comes at a time when more couples are cohabiting rather than marrying.

Mortality rates among babies fell to 3.6 among every 1,000 children in the first year of life in 2014, but ticked up to 3.7 in 2015. Last year they rose again to 3.8.

Infant mortality was notably higher in some regions, with six in every 1,000 babies under a year old dying in the West Midlands – double the rate in the East of England or in Wales.