Evaluation of infant mortality before and during COVID-19 pandemic in a district of Istanbul

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate infant mortality in 2019 and 2020 years at the local level, considering the beginning of the pandemic period. Methods: The population of this cross-sectional study are infants registered in a district of Istanbul in 2019 and 2020. Infant mortality rates before and during the COVID-19 pandemic were calculated. Antenatal healthcare and delivery practices in addition to the underlying risk factors for infant deaths were identified and compared by the year of mortality. Results: Infant mortality rates were calculated as 4.8 and 5.1; neonatal mortality rates were 3.9 and 2.7; postneonatal mortality rates were 0.9 and 2.4 per thousand live births, respectively by the years. No statistically significant difference was found between maternal and infant characteristics of the two years. The number of pregnancy follow-up records was significantly higher for the infants that died in 2020 compared to 2019. Yet, there wasn’t any difference in number of prenatal physician visits. Conclusion: Increase in the infant mortality rate during the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period is due to postneonatal mortality. The increase in postneonatal mortality is related to deaths caused by infections. This should be investigated with the characteristics of infants and healthcare accessibility features. No disruption was identified in access to antenatal care in cases of infant mortality during the research period. This continuity in health services must be preserved. Our experience during the study revealed a room for improvement in data access on always-important public health indicators for evidence-based decision-making.

Keywords

• infant mortality
• COVID-19
• Prenatal Care
• Maternal-Child Health Services
• Routinely Collected Health Data

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