Mortality: infant

Indicator type

Network / system level indicator. The indicator would be appropriate to understand and report on the performance of networks or systems of providers.

Rationale

Deaths under one year of age are considered a key international indicator of a country's population health and quality of health care services. The infant mortality rate is particularly important for monitoring outcomes for high risk groups such as pre-term babies and growth restricted babies. NICE guidance covers antenatal care, intrapartum care and postnatal care. NICE's guideline on antenatal care and NICE's quality standard on antenatal care highlight the importance of awareness that women and babies from some ethnic backgrounds and those from deprived areas have an increased risk of death. Improving maternity and neonatal services is a key ambition in the NHS Long Term Plan.

Source guidance

Specification

Numerator: Number of infant deaths (aged under 1) occurring within the year.

Denominator: Number of live births occurring within the year.

Definition: Death in infants age under 1 year.

Calculation: Rate per 1,000 live births

Data source: Office for National Statistics (ONS) births and mortality data.

Expected population size: ONS NOMIS live births in England and Wales: births down to local authority areas and ONS (2024)'s Estimates of the population for the UK, England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, mid-2023 edition, MYE1 for England 2023 shows that live births accounted for 1.0% (563,561 divided by 57,690,323) of the mid-year population estimate: 98 per 10,000 services by a network. However, consideration should be given to whether the majority of results would require suppression because of small numbers.

ISBN: 978-1-4731-6821-3