BIBLIOGRAPHIC INPUT SHEET TEMPORARY Patterns of mortality ...

48 Patternsof Mortality in Childhood
natal periods for whom birth weights were
Fla. 27. Percentage of Infants Dying in Neonatal
obtained. In 12 of the 15 cities and seven
other areas birth weights were obtained for
more than half of tile infants who died in
the first year of life. In La Paz many births
In all projects some of
occurred at home.
the infant deaths were of babies born before
the period of the Investigation and thus
before weighing was stressed. The recording
of birth weights for infants dying in the
was more satisfactory than
neonatal periol
for those dying in the postneonatal period.
In nine cities and three other areas 80 per
cent or more of those deceased in the neonatal
period had recorded birth weights
(the three other areas are suburban San
Francisco and the suburban and rural departments
of San Juan Province). Figure
27 illustrates the completeness of data on
neobirth
weight for infants dying in the
natal period in 25 areas of the 15 projects.
In a few areas only limited data were obtained-as
in Bolivia, rural mnamicipios of
El Salvador, and rural departments of
Chaco Province.
Weights were used only when recorded
on the day of birth in hospitals and clinics.
In a few areas (as in San Juan Province)
babies born at homne were taken imniediately
to the hospital for medical attention
and thus were weighed. In several cities
(as in La Paz and Cali) about half the deceased
infants had been born at home (56
per cent of infant deaths with place of birth
known in La Paz and 48 per cent in Cali)
and thus the birth weights were not known.
Period, with Birth Weight Stated, in 25 Areas of
15 Projects.
FR CENT
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0 20 40 60 ,o
CITIES
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SAIIGo
sN leao ,mIT Pfflo
IYS
(CITY)
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79.
In this chapter analysis of birth weights is
limited to neonatal deaths.
Similar tabulations according to length
of gestation indicated that the data were
not complete enough to use in this report.
Although ideally gestation and birth weight
should be combined in the evaluation of the
condition of the infant, in the near future
probably birth weight will continue to be
the most suitable measure of immaturity
for studies in many countries of the world.
DISTRIBUTION OF NEONATAL
This analysis of birth weights is made
for infants deceased in the neonatal period
whose birth occurred in hospitals, and it is
DEATHS BY WEIGHT AT BIRTH
limited to the cities (including Sherbrooke
project as a city), with two exceptions: for
the California project the data are corn­