Canada has high rate of first-day infant deaths

TORONTO — A new report suggests that Canada has the second-highest rate of first-day infant mortality in the industrialized world.

Save the Children analyzed data from 176 countries, focusing on how many babies die the day they are born.

The report says about 900 newborns die within 24 hours of their birth in Canada every year — or 2.4 out of every 1,000 babies.

Out of all the industrialized countries, only the United States has a higher rate than Canada with 11,300 newborn deaths — or 2.6 out of every 1,000 births.

But Save the Children says industrialized countries make up less than two per cent of all newborn deaths worldwide.