There are several causes for the death of infants. The five leading causes (in 2015) were as follows: 1.) Birth defects, which are defined as “structural or functional abnormalities present at birth that cause physical or mental disabilities” which can be a result of genetic problems or environmental exposures (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD], 2014). Mothers who are using drugs or alcohol are especially at risk for having children with birth defects. 2.) Preterm birth/ low birth weight – this is very dangerous to the fetus because of the delicate organs and structures are not entirely developed. Several risk factors for preterm birth are “smoking, illicit drug use, and psychosocial stress” (Manuck, 2017). 3.) Sudden infant death syndrome, more commonly known as “SIDs” is an unexplained death of an infant that commonly occurs in their sleep. Some possible reasons could be if the child turns on their stomach causing an obstruction of the airway, or if there are items in the crib that obstruct the airway as well. 4.) Maternal pregnancy complications, 5.) Injuries (e.g. suffocation) (CDC, 2017). As stated prior, there are disparities in infant mortality. The chances of it occurring, is more likely for certain groups, such as those that are different ethnicities, …show more content…
For over the past 25 years, there has been a program known as the “Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS)”, which was funded by congress. This program allocated money to the Center for Disease Control to “administer state based programs of surveillance to collect data that would be helpful for reducing maternal and infant morbidity and mortality” (CDC, 2013). In turn, this information would be analyzed and then given to states in order to direct their policy making on the proper reforms for their individual needs. Throughout the country, forty of our states have adopted to participate in PRAMS. California, Nevada, and Idaho do not have PRAMS, but they have developed and are conducting similar programs that survey information on child mortality in order to assess risk (CDC, 2013). The way this program works is that surveys with questions and tops based on breastfeeding, prenatal habits/care patterns, smoking whilst being pregnant, and infant sleep position are sent to new mothers to complete and send back. If responses were not received, the second procedure would be to contact the mother via telephone (CDC, 2013). One of the results of this program was in the state of West Virginia. The surveys revealed that “West Virginia has the largest percentage (>30%) of respondents who smoked during the last 3 months of pregnancy” which is drastically different from the