Cot deaths main cause of N.Z. infant mortality

Press, 19 December 1985, Page 22

Cot deaths main cause of N.Z. infant mortality

PA Dunedin New Zealand’s high infant mortality rate will not really drop until the cause of cot deaths is discovered, according to the Child Mortality Review Committee. A Planning Council report released earlier said that this country’s infant mortality rate (babies aged one month to 11 months) was twice that found in northwestern Europe in the 1980 s. Dr J. Clarkson, chairman of the Child Mortality Review Committee, said that cot deaths were responsible for three-quarters of all infant deaths.

Echoing comments made by the Plunket Society’s national director, Dr David Geddis, Dr Clarkson said the death rate had not worsened, but “we are stuck on the cot death thing.” He agreed with Dr Geddis that more money was needed for more Plunket nurses. Nurses were required to closely monitor

at-risk babies but the Plunket Society was short staffed at present, he said. Dr Clarkson said the Otago-Southland cot death rate of 11 per 1000 babies needed recognition. This matched the over-all death rate for Maori infants and was nearly three times the national cot-death figure of 4.4 per 1000. He said the problem appeared to relate to cool climates.

However, Sweden had few of these deaths, and they tended to occur in the spring and autumn as during winter, .people stayed inside centrally heated homes.

Premature babies and those who had been through a difficult delivery also seemed to be at risk along with those bom into difficult social circumstances. They would benefit from increased Plunket nurse surveillance, he said.