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Low-Cost
Measures Can
Cut Infant Mortality
LONDON
(Reuters) - Basic healthcare and low-cost measures such as keeping
a baby warm and breast-feeding could cut infant mortality and
save the lives of millions of babies each year, according to a
report published Wednesday.
Fifty babies
die every 6 minutes worldwide. Four million infants are stillborn
while another 4 million never reach 1 month old, but many of the
deaths could be prevented by improving the health of pregnant
women, experts say.
``In many
developing countries, healthcare for pregnant women during the
critical perinatal period (before and shortly after birth) is
virtually non-existent,'' said Professor Anthony Costello of Britain's
Institute of Child Health (ICH), a co-author of the report.
``Most mothers
give birth without ever coming into contact with a skilled health
worker,'' he added in a statement.
The report,
entitled ``State of the World's Newborns,'' by the ICH and the
charities Women and Children First and Save The Children, compared
mother and infant healthcare in poor countries to what is available
in Britain, other parts of Europe and the United States.
Most infant
deaths in the developing world are caused by infections, early
delivery, obstetric complications and birth defects, the report
indicates.
Fifty-three
million women each year give birth without any professional help.
A mother in West Africa is 30 times more likely to lose a baby
within the first month of life than a woman in Western Europe
or North America, according to the report.
Its authors
urged donor organizations to provide more money to improve survival
rates by using clean delivery kits, making available vaccines
and essential medicines, and ensuring that women give birth with
the help of a skilled assistant.
It urged mothers
to exclusively breast-feed their infants and to seek professional
help if their babies are not well.
``The horrifying
statistics demonstrate the need for global commitment to saving
millions of newborns lives lost unnecessarily. This is achievable
by simply improving what we already do and applying what we already
know,'' Costello said.
Reference
Source 89
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