Live Child Births
The number of live child births compared to the number of births in general is statistical data that is frequently used to determine a nation's state of economy and health care. The more babies born alive signifies adequate nutritional intake during and before pregnancy, access to prenatal health care, and safe means of delivering a child.
When computing the statistics for live child births, analysts usually use the number of live births per 1,000 babies delivered within a specific time frame. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers a live birth one in which the baby is still living 28 days after delivery. The organization began compiling data on live births as a means of assessing the health of a country in 1950.
The WHO actually lists their data on live child births in the negative sense, listing neonatal mortality rates instead. This figure represents how many babies born in a specific location during a specific period of time did not survive beyond their 28th day of life. The latest data published represents live child births during 2007 in the WHO's 193 member states.
Countries at the lowest end of the spectrum, meaning fewer live child births per 1,000 deliveries, are those currently experiencing violence and strife due to wartime activities or which have seen the trauma of war in recent years. Liberia tops the list with 66 neonatal deaths per 1,000 births, with Ivory Coast (64), Iraq (63), and Afghanistan (60) following closely.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, where the number of live births per 1,000 deliveries is highest, the level of affluence, or standard of living, is also highest and health care is either universal or affordable to every citizen.
Iceland, Japan, and Singapore each report only 1 neonatal death per 1,000 deliveries, meaning there are 999 live child births per 1,000 in these locations. Following with only 2 neonatal deaths per 1,000 are Andorra, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.
In the United States, where money spent on health care is higher per capita than anywhere else on earth, the rate of live child births has dropped in recent years to 4 neonatal deaths (or 996 live births) per 1,000 deliveries. Analysts cite our increasingly limited access to adequate health care and the extreme cost of the health care available as reasons for the decline in the US birth rate in recent years.