Predictors of Infant Mortality in a Developing Country

An attempt is made to investigate the predictors of neonatal and post-neonatal mortality in Bangladesh by utilizing the data of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 1999-2000. In this study the Cross-tabulation analysis reveals that infant mortality varied significantly by several variables. Among these variables, parents education had significant negative effect on infant mortality, while occupation of parents had significant influence on post-neonatal mortality only. The infant mortality was found higher in small families, while low for the children whose mothers were currently breastfed and it decreased significantly with the increase of mothers standard of living index. Mother`s age at birth of child and birth order had significant influence on infant mortality and it was lowest for the children having birth interval over 30 months. It is also found that timing of first antenatal check, Tetanus Toxoid (TT) during pregnancy and numbers of antenatal visit had significant influence for both mortality cohorts. Multiple logistic regression analysis, carried out by using the significant variables found in cross tabulation analysis, reveals that mother`s education, family size, breastfeeding status, mother`s age at birth, birth spacing, complication during birth, type of birth, timing of first antenatal check and TT during pregnancy had significant effect on neonatal mortality. Further, post-neonatal mortality varied significantly by education and occupation of father, family size, breastfeeding status, mother`s age at birth, type of birth and TT during pregnancy. Thus further research is needed to assess the impact of several variables taken into consideration the above groups, so that the policy formulation will be easier for the people involved in planning purpose.