Title: [The main problems in maternal-child health in Mexico]

POPLINE Document Number: 028904

Author(s):

Arreola Ramirez A

Source citation:

In: Planificacion familial, poblacion, salud materno-infantil, edited by Jorge Martinez Manautou [and] Juan Giner Velazquez. Mexico City, Mexico, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Subdirecion General Medica, Jefatura de Servicios de Planificacion Familiar, 1984. :492-517.

Abstract:

Mexico around 1980 had a general mortality rate of 7.45/1000, a maternal mortality rate of 1.26/1000 live births, an infant mortality rate of 46.63/1000 live births, and a life expectancy at birth of 65 years. In Costa Rica and Cuba respectively, general mortality rates are 30 and 46% lower, maternal mortality rates are 21 and 60% lower, and infant mortality rates are 60 and 64% lower than in Mexico. Maternal mortality declined from 143.0 to 94.5/100,000 live births between 1970-80, but health coverage must be extended to eliminate some of the causes of death. The 6 major causes of maternal mortality from 1968-80 have been toxemia, hemorrhages in pregnancy or delivery, sepsis during delivery or the puerperium, abortion, delivery without mention of complications, and other complications, all of which can be controlled more adequately with better medical attention, especially in the prenatal period. On the national level, 80.5% of pregnant women receive medical care, but the proportion of high parity women receiving care is lower. 12% of pregnant women in urban areas get no medical attention compared to 32% in rural areas. 57% of urban women but only 26% of women in places with fewer than 2500 inhabitants have 5 prenatal visits or more. Prenatal care from the beginning of pregnancy is the best means of detecting and controlling complications, and is especially important for older women, multiparas, and women with little education in marginal suburban and rural areas. 29% of women in rural areas are assisted at delivery by nonprofessional personnel. Infant mortality considered to occur for exogenous causes fell from 74.2 to 38.8/1000 live births between 1960-80, indicating that health care has improved. Respiratory and intestinal ailments continue to be the 2 main causes of infant deaths. Perinatal mortality declined from 24.2 to 22.1/1000 live births between 1976-78, but a large proportion of such deaths could have been avoided with better prenatal care. 47.9% of infants in places of under 2500 inhabitants receive no medical care of any kind in their 1st month of life, compared to 24.7% in metropolitan areas. Infants of mothers under 20 and over 40 and of mothers of large families are least likely to receive medical attention in their 1st month. 85.6% of children of mothers with 7 or more years of schooling receive medical care exclusively from physicians, compared to 28.3% of children of illiterate mothers. Only 30% of children in Mexico are vaccinated against polio, diptheria-pertussis-tetanus, measles, and tuberculosis in their 1st year of life. Mortality among children aged 1-4 declined from 9.8/1000 in 1960 to 3.2 in 1980, due primarily to a slow improvement in socioeconomic conditions.

Keywords:

Mexico
South America, Central
Maternal Mortality
Child Mortality
Infant Mortality
Neonatal Mortality
Latin America
Causes of Death
Antenatal Care
Medicine
Life Expectancy
Age Factors
Educational Status
Urban Population
Rural Population
Developed Countries
North America
Americas
Developing Countries
South America
Mortality
Population Dynamics
Demographic Factors
Population
Maternal Health Services
Maternal-Child Health Services
Primary Health Care
Health Services
Delivery of Health Care
Health
Length of Life
Population Characteristics
Socioeconomic Status
Socioeconomic Factors
Economic Factors