A NOTE ON THE FETAL–INFANT MORTALITY PROBLEM

This paper considers the age pattern of mortality between conception and first birthday. It highlights the various problems that still limit our understanding of the ways in which the age components of mortality are associated, especially during the perinatal period. A mathematical function is fitted which captures the interaction between six mortality components for a typical high mortality society, one in which the infant mortality rate is 150 per thousand live births. This experiment helps to clarify the need to link infant with fetal mortality, to conduct further research on the level of risk in each component, and to consider the cumulative early-age mortality profile in its entirety.