United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for the first time releases the report on Newborn Mortality Rate (NMR=Number of deaths per 1,000 live deaths).
As per the reports, Japan with an NMR of 0.9 deaths per 1,000 live births has been ranked the world’s safest place to be born followed by Iceland (NMR-1) and Singapore (NMR-1.1).
“Newborn survival is closely related to a country’s income level. High-income countries have an average NMR of just 3, in comparison to low-income countries that have an NMR of 27,” reads report. “More than 80% of newborn deaths are the result of premature birth, complications during labour and delivery and infections such as sepsis, meningitis and pneumonia. Babies born to mothers with no education face almost twice the risk of dying during the newborn period as compared to the babies born to the mothers with at least secondary education.”
