Mothers age at first birth effecting infant and maternal mortality rates

Correlations between Mother’s Age and Infant and Maternal Mortality Rates
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Abstract
Infant and maternal mortality remain a major problem in today’s world despite great developments not only in the health care but also socioeconomically. Millions of children die before attaining the age of one year and about 800 women die every day internationally as a result of pregnancy or childbirth-related complications. 99 percent of these deaths occur in developing states. Various studies reveal a relationship between a mother’s age and the possibility of maternal and infant mortality. This research aims at providing empirical evidence concerning the link between the first birth age of mothers and child-mother complications and death within the first few months after delivery. The study also recognizes other factors that contribute to child-mother death including, the nutritional and socioeconomic status of the mother. This study found evidence that a mother’s age impact the overall health of an infant as well as contribute to maternal and child mortality. Adolescent and older women above the age of 35 are at higher risk of child mortality compared to those in their 20s.
Literature Review
The past century experienced a tremendous change in the health care sector. Despite the significant change, however, the world still records millions of maternal and child deaths every year. Women still suffer the threats of childbirth and pregnancy in conditions practically unchanged over time.

Maternal problems tend to pose severe impediments on women, and unfortunately, millions of recorded newborn deaths and stillbirths are due to a variety of similar avoidable reasons. Various statistics reveal that millions of children are stillbirths and others die before reaching their first month of life. It is important to note that a majority of maternal and babies deaths, about 98 percent, happen in developing nations Andrews, Brouillette, D & Brouillette R. (2008). In spite of a significant drop in child and infant deaths in growing countries during the past several decades, it is evident that development in the reduction of overall mortality rate among mothers and babies is considerably slow. Moss, Darmstadt, Marsh, Black, & Santosham (2002) indicate that the newborn deaths accounted for 40 percent of all recorded mortalities among infants aged below five years. Moss et al. (2002) study use data from the Office of Health and Department of International Health. Moss et al. (2002) suggest that a mother’s education, nutritional status, immunity and immunization significantly impacts neonatal morbidity and mortality. Additionally, children whose parents fail to acquire prenatal care have a 25 percent increased probability of neonatal mortality. The findings agree that a mother’s status impact that of their children.
The statistics, therefore, indicate an importance in the need for governments to institute improved stress on established, cost-efficient procedures to save newborns and maternal lives. These measurements will help in maintaining previous health benefits as well as assist in meeting the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Saving newborns rely greatly on how safe motherhood is. For instance, the World Health Organization (2016) suggests that prevention of neonatal mortalities and stillbirths is possible if women received adequate nourishment. Additionally, receiving excellent care when pregnant, during delivery and the postpartum time can help in reducing these deaths (World Health Organization 2016).
A study by the Office of National Statistics (2015) involving English and Wales’s participants indicate that the 2013 mortality rate per 1,000 live births was 3.8. The methodology used in this study included Child Mortality Statistics QMI, Births QMI, and Mortality Statistics in Wales and England QMI. The Child Mortality Statistics QMI included collecting information on figures, stillbirth rates, deaths of children under one year of age and annual childhood deaths of kids from 1 to 15 years old in Wales and England. The information also contained additional variables gathered during birth registration including mother’s age in childbirth, parity, their birth country, socioeconomic status, and birth weight. The mortality statistics was gathered from a “live” catalog of every death recorded in Wales and England since 1993 which is persistently updated. The Mortality Statistics records involved using the number of fatalities recorded within an explicitly indicated time. The data provided depends on the information gathered during the certification and registration of death. The Birth Statistics QMI involved using registered birth data in Wales and England. The statistics include details collected from the General Register Office which is the legal record and thus make it the most comprehensive birth data.
The infant death level was linked to their respective record of birth registration. Office of National Statistics (2015) adds that for each of the related mortalities, mortality rates for children of mothers between 25 and 29 years were lowest at 3.4 mortalities per 1,000 live births. However, Office for National Statistics (2015) indicates that mothers aged below 20 years had the highest death rate of 6.1 per 1,000 live births. The study, hence, proves that young women are at greater risk of experiencing child and maternal complications compared to older women. It also confirms the hypothesis suggested in this research that indeed the age of a mother plays a vital role in the overall health and survival of their infants.
Recent studies reveal that first-born children of females between the ages 27 and 29 in developing nations are at an increased threat of stunting and child mortality (Finlay, Ozaltin & Canning 2011). Additionally, these groups have higher risks of diarrhea, underweight and moderate to serious anemia. Finlay et al. (2011) study used a cross-sectional analysis method of statewide representative home samples for the study. Also, the authors used a customized Poisson regression model for the estimation of adjusted and unadjusted Risk Rate ratios. The research involved data from low and medium-income nations and used a population of females who had their first births at 12 to 35 years within 12 to 0 month before the interview. The sample used to analyze child death entailed more than 176,500 kids in 55 low and medium income states involving over a hundred Demographic and Health Surveys performed from 1990 to 2008. The authors measure the outcome using infant death in kids less than one-year-old and wasting, underweight, stunting, anemia and diarrhea in children below five years. The research findings showed that newborns of mothers between 12 and 17 years are considerably more prone to dying during before reaching their first birthday compared to those born to females aged between 27 and 29 (Finlay et al. 2011).
Gage, Fang, O’Neill and Stratton (2008) recognize the healthy relationship between a mother’s age and child death. The authors used details of non-Hispanic European American and African American singleton live births in New York from 1985 to 1988. Gage et al. (2008) analyzed using variables like race, parity, and sex and used the CDDmlr model method by fitting it to individual-level data. The study identified a strong link between a mother’s age and the infant’s birth weight. Gage et al. (2008) also discovered that a mother’s age affects the general birth weight circulation and entire child death due to its impact on the percentage of “compromised” versus “normal” births. This study supports the proposition of this study as it proves, though using old data that mother and newborn deaths connect with maternal age.
Inequality is a socio-factor evidently recognized for its direct effect on the health of specific populations around the world. Ruiz, Nuhu, McDaniel, Popoff, Izcovich, and Criniti (2015) research proves this suggestion. The authors acquired inequality data from the United Nations Development Program and maternal and newborn mortality from Global Burden Disease 2013 Cause of Death records. The scholars used OLS regression model to identify the prognostic power of the Human Development Index and Inequality-Adjusted Human Development Index concerning maternal mortality ratio, and infant mortality ratio. Ruiz et al. (2015) suggest that nearly 800 women die per day due to childbirth-linked complications or pregnancy internationally with 99 percent of these incidences occurring in developing world.
Ruiz et al. (2015) add that sub-classes of Infant and Maternal Mortality rates were significantly high in states with lower Inequality-Adjusted Human Development Index and Human Development Index. It is, therefore, evident that inequality plays a crucial role in maternal and infant mortality rate distribution, and the effect it felt the most particularly in countries with minimal Human Development Index. These findings help in identifying another aspect in the mother-child mortalities.
Melkart P., Melkart D., Kahema L., Velden K. and Roosmalen J. (2015) research provides an assessment of trends and levels of maternal mortality for the past half century. The study used information on North Tanzania and used yearly reports of the only hospital in the region between 1962 and 2011 to determine the death rate for mothers for every decade. The study found out that about 77 percent of maternal mortality were either direct or indirect. The study, nevertheless, fails to provide a clear indication of the correlations between maternal age and child-mother deaths. But, the study confirms assertions made by Ruiz et al. (2015) that the socio-economic factor of a country directly impacts the health of its populace which is evident in Melkart et al. (2015) study on Tanzanians. The findings also agree with this study that socio-economic factors impact the survival of children as well as their mothers within the first few months after delivery.
Sokulmez and Ozenoglu (2014) provide a correlation between adolescent pregnancy and parent and infant risk by identifying the mother’s nutritional status and the effect it has on newborns. The authors used biochemical findings, anthropometric measures and the nutritional condition of 220 pregnant adolescents who took questionnaires. The study discovered 3.1 percent accounted for stillbirths and premature births, 3.2 percent of infant deaths, and 46 percent of babies born to mothers with multiple pregnancies died. Sokulmez and Ozenoglu (2014) acknowledge that a mother’s nutritional level impacts the overall health of gestation and child. Sokulmez and Ozenoglu (2014) also discovered that 6 percent of adolescents start giving birth with 9 percent birth rates recorded in rural areas compared to 5 percent in urban. Sokulmez and Ozenoglu (2014) also identified that a quarter of all mother deaths constitute adolescents. It is, hence, obvious that younger parents face a high risk of mortality and transfer the risk to their offspring.
Matthews and Hamilton (2002) research identify trends of American women bearing children for the past thirty years. The study uses variables like mother’s residential state, race, Hispanic origins, and live-birth order. The authors used graphs and descriptive tabulations to show the trends in the average age of mothers. The study revealed an increase in the median age of mothers with the US recording a rise of 2.6 years from 1970 to 2000. One may agree with Finlay et al. (2015) study that delayed pregnancy reduces mortality rates and therefore, Matthews and Hamilton (2002) study indicates that late childbirths reports started over a decade past.
Wang (2014) implies that maternity care, gender equality and women’s human rights has an impact on Maternal Child Field (MCH) with political and economic growth as essential factors. The author utilized details from 137 nations from developing world and used a structural equation analysis for examining the suggested empirical model. Wang (2014) found that gender equality directly impacts the promotion of Maternal Child Field and maternity and MCH has a high statistical significance. This study concurs with Ruiz et al. (2015) assertions of inequality role in maternal and child death. It also strengthens this paper’s argument that mother’s welfare including social, health, and economically affects the overall death level.
Lyberg, Viken, Haruna, & Severinsson (2012) work highlights the need for midwives and maternal caregivers to improve the quality of their services for improved mother-child survival possibilities. Lyberg et al. (2012) conducted interviews involving Norwegians and analyzed the information using traditional interpretative qualitative data analysis. The study revealed cultural challenges faced whereby Norwegian maternity care did not accommodate the needs of migrant women, and the management was similar to other places offering same services. Maternal care is imperative in the general infant and mother survival, and failure to meet the need by some caregivers pose a threat to these populations.
Lu, Highsmith, Cruz & Atrash (2015) acknowledges a rise in severe morbidity and maternal mortality in the United States in the past few decades. Lu et al. (2015) indicate an increase in maternal mortality by 2.5 times from 1987 to 2009. Lu et al. (2015) add that the physical and psychological status of a mother impact their health considerably. The research also discovered disparities in the outcome among racial variables in which African American women estimated a 3-4 fold rise in morbidity and mortality levels. Lu (2010) agrees that America, despite its enormous spending on perinatal health care, the country still ranks least on the majority of conventional measures of perinatal wellbeing. Bongaarts and Blanc (2015) report agree on recent developments on the age at which mothers experience their first births. In fact, Bongaarts and Blanc suggest that global efforts by organizations across the globe have yielded in that more and more women are recording delayed first births. However, Bongaarts and Blanc (2015) points out that these delayed deliveries slow populace growth by decreasing populace momentum and increasing the gap between generations.
Zasloff, Schytt, & Waldermström (2007) explain the variance of experience by first-time mothers based on age. The study involved a longitudinal cohort involving Swedish participants and offered questionnaires two weeks after delivery and during the women’s 2nd trimester. The findings indicated that while 77 percent of younger women had normal vaginal deliveries, only 57 of older women had healthy births. This study, therefore, posits that while most younger pregnancies and childbirths present socioeconomic challenges, delivering at an older age present biological risks to mothers. Bravo and Noya (2014) work aimed at determining the normative gestational experiences through youth development, culture, and positive pregnancy as a framework. Bravo and Noya (2014) used electronic materials and discovered perinatal, prenatal, and postnatal difficulties the mental health and general health of a young mother. The study suggested that social relations support parents’ health.
Ory and Poppel (2013) research found an increase in maternal mortality due to late birth age, multiple gestations, high and low parity, and short delivery gaps. The study involved mother death reports between 1846 and 1902 of the Dutch population. Also, Ory and Poppel (2013) discovered that women who gave birth during their younger years suffered high death rates compared to older ones in their 20s. This report concurs with Finlay et al. (2016) report. Powers (2013) report agrees with Zasloff et al. (2007) work that women who give birth late have increased child mortality levels than their younger counterparts. The author used populations of Mexican-born and non-Hispanic American-born whites. Powers (2013) concluded that the socio-economic disparities between the two groups might be responsible for higher newborn mortality deaths among older Mexican-born females. Joehson and Tough (2013) findings match with Zaslof et al. (2007) that older mothers suffer higher probabilities of infant loss.
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