tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post2942704479007928460..comments2023-10-17T15:56:22.827+01:00Comments on Velvet Glove, Iron Fist: Infant mortality and income inequalityChristopher Snowdonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15963753745009712865noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-58841932286627185422014-05-05T11:05:06.648+01:002014-05-05T11:05:06.648+01:00From Dave Atherton
Hi Chris.
It is not often we...From Dave Atherton<br /><br />Hi Chris. <br /><br />It is not often we slightly beg to differ but in this case I might make an exception. Any infant deaths from alcohol would probably be from Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). It is so rare in the UK that no statistics are kept. In the USA estimates are very hard to come by and in this paper (1) Alaska’s estimates 0.2-0.3 per 100,000, overall and Alaskan Native Americans 3.00 - 5.20/100,000.<br /><br />Last year a paper authored by Prof Yvonne Kelly reviewed “10,534 UK seven-year-olds, whose mothers had either abstained from alcohol or drank lightly while pregnant, were analysed. Little difference was found between the two groups. ” <br /><br />On smoking it is a soft target. One of the few benefits of smoking while pregnant is a 50% reduction in preeclampsia an often fatal condition caused by dangerously levels of blood pressure. This paper (3) is actually entitled “How does smoking reduce the risk of preeclampsia?” <br /><br />It states: “This implies that smoking during the second half of pregnancy is necessary for reducing the risk of preeclampsia or gestational hypertension.”<br /><br />The paper you cite (4) may give us a clue why the findings were so, it says “The proportion of infant deaths attributable to maternal smoking was highest among American Indians at 13%, almost three times the national average.” If you look at my Alaskan FAS figures Native Alaskans are between 15 to 26 times more likely by implication to drink at levels that will impinge on the mortality of a foetus.<br /><br />What I think this points to is that, yes the paper had found a correlation but not necessarily the cause. I would contend that people with extreme and risky life styles, e.g. drug taking tend to smoke. We all know that people with severe mental illnesses tend to smoke, these reasons maybe the confounders.<br /><br />Why is child mortality so high in the UK? This paper published (5) in March 2013 by the Association of Radical Midwives, which admittedly sounds a little extreme, but the forward is by Professor Lesley Page President of the Royal College of Midwives inter alia comments on:<br /><br />A lack of birth centres<br />“Too few midwives, too little time”<br /><br />Basically Dr Ingrid Wolfe is just passing on the NHS’ incompetence to a convenient excuse. <br /><br />Also in the UK home births are popular and if there are any major complications an obstetrician is not in attendance for emergencies. <br /><br />Other confounders maybe the UK’s high levels of 3rd World immigration. Many Nigerian women come to the UK to give birth and I am sure you read the news 2 days ago of Ujunwa Ozeh, 31 who at 26 weeks went into labour at 30,000 feet and the plane diverted. (6)<br /><br />The newslink (7) from December 2013 stated that “The report found that over a two-year period, immigration officials at Gatwick stopped more than 300 expectant foreigners found to be in an “advanced stage of pregnancy [and] who evidently intend[ed] to access NHS maternity services”.<br /><br />My instinct is that income inequality is the least attributable factor in the UK’s high infant mortality rate and the medical establishment and government are just try pass the buck for their own ineptitude.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />1. http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh25-3/159-167.htm<br /><br />2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22167522<br /><br />3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2855389/<br /><br />4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14682499<br /><br />5. http://www.midwifery.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/The-Vision-2013.pdf<br /><br />6. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2618778/Born-fly-British-Airways-plane-forced-make-emergency-landing-woman-gave-birth-36-000ft-economy-class.html<br /><br />7. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/10540881/The-300-maternity-tourists.html<br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-931499867634093192014-05-05T00:12:27.302+01:002014-05-05T00:12:27.302+01:00The percentage difference between the UK and the E...The percentage difference between the UK and the EU couldn't possibly be to do with cousins marrying cousins and marrying there kids off to there cousins and uncles? XAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-63038843532403312972014-05-04T07:39:27.644+01:002014-05-04T07:39:27.644+01:00Christ. Another typo. 7.8% not 78%. I should not b...Christ. Another typo. 7.8% not 78%. I should not be let near a keyboard after midnight.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-22533150686686851552014-05-04T07:33:00.170+01:002014-05-04T07:33:00.170+01:00Clearly, that last date should have read 2002Clearly, that last date should have read 2002Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3585028625507474093.post-8991087637029116872014-05-04T07:31:26.674+01:002014-05-04T07:31:26.674+01:00I think you're buying into propaganda when you...I think you're buying into propaganda when you say that "clearly" smoking during pregnancy is a risk for child mortality. Aside from history disproving that, I have scores of studies in my files showing the opposite: no effect or, surprisingly, a positive effect of smoking. Further, the correlation with lower birth weight, first turns out to be a difference of grams, and second is made up rapidly. And finally, US CDC figures show the incidence of officially Low (not just Lower) Birth Weight (5.5 lbs or less) rose inversely as fewer women smoked during pregnancy. EG, in 1989 almost 20% of pregnant women smoked and the % of LBW was 7%; by 2992 only 11.4% smoked but the LBW was 78% said to be "highest in 30 years." If you want citations, ask.<br />Walt CodyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com