Preceding Child Survival Status and Its Effect on Infant and Child Mortality in India: An Evidence from National Family Health Survey 2015-16

Shobhit Srivastava, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Shubhranshu Upadhyay , International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

Introduction: India had achieved impressive gains in child survival over the last two decades, however, was not successful to achieve MDG 2015 goals. For example, U5MR reduced from 114 per 1000 live births in 1990 to 39 in 2016 at an annual rate of 3%. Similarly, IMR reduced from 81 to 34 per 1000 live births between 1990 and 2016. Data and Methods: Data from National Family Household Survey 2015-16 had been used for analysis. The cox-proportional hazard regression model has been used for analyzing survival data. Findings: The study finds out that the survival status of the preceding child affects the survival status of a succeeding child i.e. Infant and child deaths are highly clustered among those mothers whose earlier child was dead. Maternal age at childbirth, childbirth order, and childbirth interval were highly associated with infant and child mortality. The socio-economic status of the mother plays a vital role in determining the survival status of the infant and child. Conclusion: Infant and child deaths are highly clustered among those mothers whose earlier child is dead. This signifies the result that some mothers are always at a disadvantageous stage when it comes to infant and child mortality. Moreover, as maternal childbearing age is still low in India, it poses a high risk of infant and child death among those. Mothers with higher birth order are having a high risk to lose their child as it is difficult to take care of every child.

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 Presented in Session P2. Poster Session Ageing, Health and Mortality