Association of infant mortality with lack of regular prenatal care in the Haifa subdistrict, 1980.
Results from a retrospective, matched case-control study on infant mortality in the Haifa subdistrict in 1980 are presented. Its most significant result was the demonstration of a positive association of lack of prenatal care with subsequent infant mortality among Jews. Of the Jewish mothers whose infants died, 19.2% did not attend a clinic regularly for prenatal care, compared with only 6.8% in the control group (P = 0.06). Among Arab mothers, the percentages were 30.0 and 25.0, respectively, and were not statistically significant. The most probable explanation is that regular prenatal care actually decreases neonatal mortality, but this study cannot confirm it directly. Other results were: none of the Arab mothers whose infants died had been under follow-up in a high-risk clinic during pregnancy, compared with 28.6% of the Jewish mothers whose infants died; and no association was demonstrated between infant mortality and mother's age or birth order.
D001722:Birth Order; D002662:Child Health Services; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D008423:Maternal Age; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012306:Risk