Postneonatal mortality in Alabama: why no progress in the 90s?

Purpose: To examine the factors associated with postneonatal mortality.

Methods: Logistic regression was used to examine the effects of various variables on postneonatal mortality in Alabama.

Results: The most important predictor of postneonatal mortality was birth weight. Social and economic variables were also important in explaining postneonatal mortality.

Conclusions: Reductions in postneonatal mortality may require closer case management of low birth weight neonatal survivors. Survival of these infants creates a cohort at risk of postneonatal mortality. Many of these low birth weight infants are born into an environment where their mothers' parenting potential is compromised by youth and poverty. This may be responsible for the failure to reduce postneonatal mortality and explain its increasing proportion of infant deaths; deaths may be being postponed from the neonatal to the postneonatal period.