The three most common causes of death among newborns are genetic disease, premature birth and accidents, including putting a baby down to sleep on their stomach, Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) said yesterday as he called for greater awareness.
Hsueh made the remarks at a conference on reducing the nation’s neonatal mortality rate, organized by the Taiwan Society of Neonatology and the Taiwan Pediatric Association in Taipei.
Of the top causes of death among newborns, genetic disease caused by gene or chromosome mutation can be avoided if discovered during prenatal care checkups, but it could raise ethical issues, so it might be unacceptable for some parents, he said.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
Hsueh said the two other causes can be more easily avoided, as medical professionals strive to prevent premature births and to provide better medical assistance to premature babies.
Some accidents, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) caused by laying a baby to sleep on their stomach, can also be prevented, he said.
Some parents believe that letting their newborn sleep on their stomach would help them have a round head, which is a “ridiculous” reason, Hsueh said.
The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) urges parents to avoid putting babies down to sleep on their bellies, he said, adding that the government would continue to raise public awareness about SIDS.
Child Welfare League Foundation president Lin Jih-jia (林志嘉) said Taiwan’s birthrate has fallen to almost the lowest in the world, but its neonatal mortality rate is higher than those in Japan and South Korea.
He urged the ministry to set up a specialized agency to assess and deal with the problem.
National Taiwan University Children Hospital’s Division of Neonatology attending physician Chou Hung-chieh (周弘傑) said the neonatal mortality rate has been increasing in the past three years.
The rate is about 2.4 deaths per 1,000 live births, which is 2.7 times that in Japan and 1.6 times that in South Korea, Chou said, calling on the government to pay attention to the problem.
Another common cause of neonatal death are perinatal respiratory disorders, he said.
A neonatal death database should be established to analyze the cases and improve critical issues, he added.
An HPA analysis suggested that a higher neonatal mortality rate is associated with a higher average maternal age, so medical care and support for pregnancy at an advanced maternal age is also important, Chou said.
National Health Insurance Administration Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said the National Health Insurance (NHI) system would cover “high-risk pregnancy neonatal emergency treatment fees,” following calls by medical professionals.
The decision was made at Thursday’ meeting of the National Health Insurance Pharmaceutical Benefit and Reimbursement Standard.
The NHI would cover three types of high-risk pregnancy neonatal emergency treatment fees, based on high, medium and low risk levels, Shih said.
The policy might take affect in September at the earliest, as it requires administrative review and final approval by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
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