SLP 5—Literature Review: HEORY AND RESEARCH: RESULTS

Literature Summary
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Introduction
Infant/neonatal mortality rate is an issue that has attracted global attention over the years. In order to achieve the sustainable development goals, strategies that will help in the reduction of neonatal and infant mortality rates must be implemented. Across the world, more than 8 million children under the age of five years die annually where 3.3 million of these deaths occur during the first 28 days of life. Neonatal and infant mortalities account for the increasing child death rates. This increasing high rate is unacceptable and must be controlled if better child survival is to be achieved. In developing countries, majority of mothers and newborns do not receive the appropriate care during and after birth. However, more than half of the newborn deaths can be prevented if effective measures are provided to the mothers and newborns at birth and during the first month of life. As a result, various scholars have carried a number of studies with the aim of evaluating the major causes of this issue as well as the comparisons across various countries. Based on these studies, this study uses sociological theory that proved to be effective from the reviewed studies. The study will utilize both structural functionalism and conflict theories. However, whether there is a correlation between infant/neonatal mortality rates and various factors such as education level as well as socio-cultural practices is not clear. By a critical analysis of the available literature, the researcher aims to provide insights into this issue.
The reviewed literature was acquired from a variety of scholarly search engines such engines such as PuMed and EBSCOhost. A total number of 14 articles in relation to infant/neonatal mortality rates were found. Ten of them were selected for literature review as well as in evidence analysis. The selection criteria were based on sample size, research purpose as well as valid statistical tools. Moreover, evidence level was also assessed to evaluate the validity of the studies.
Results of the literature review demonstrated that infant/neonatal mortality is adversely linked to sociocultural practices and level of education. It is true that uneducated women who adhere to their sociocultural practices are most likely not to follow the recommended child care after birth. However, education level and sociocultural factors alone cannot be used as predictors for infant/neonatal outcomes. The literature points to the direction that additional factors such as substance use, nutritional inadequacies, HIV, powerlessness of women, neglect and abuse by male partners, violation of reproductive rights among others need to be considered.
Literature Review
The first article discusses parental perceptions and understanding of SIDS-reduction guidance (Crane & Ball, 2016). The authors have clearly presented their objective. Crane and Ball (2016), provides insights into inter-cultural differences in infant care and explores the cultural contexts under which infant care is conducted to inform future health interventions in ethnically diverse place. The authors address the breaches in the current literature in relation to inconsistencies in previous studies. This explains the importance to adjust to various variables such as sociocultural practices. The study utilized in-depth narrative interviews. A total of 46 mothers (25 white British and 21 Pakistani) with 8-12-week-old infants were recruited from a group of participants who were already enrolled in Born in Bradford cohort study. The limitations of the study were the inability to demonstrate the extent to which intervention strategies be tailored to reflect the cultural and social and ecological contexts of the mothers. However, the study does not recommend for further studies to validate the findings.
The second article by Mmusi-Phetoe (2016) addresses both martenal and neonatal mortality rates in South Africa. Its objective was to explore the social factors that determine maternal and neonatal mortality rates. The author has defined the purpose of the study as identifying social factors as potential contributing factors for increased maternal and neonatal mortality rates. The sample size consisted of 10 pregnant women from the antenatal clinic in a public hospital. Audio-taped individual interviews were used to gather data. The World Health Organizations’ (WHO) Commission on Social Determinants of Health framework was utilized in analysing the data. The Results of the study demonstrated that poverty was the underlying factor in increasing the chances of illness and deaths in mothers and their neonates. The study does not provide a detailed analysis or recommendations that can be used to address these causes of maternal and neonatal mortalities.
The third article’s objective was to evaluate the beliefs and perceptions in regard to sudden death syndrome in mothers (Moon et al., 2010). The study focused on African-American mothers only in regard to SDS based on the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP). The study signifies that previous studies addressed the factors that influence parental decisions about sleep position and bed sharing in low-income African-American families but no studies have addressed the perceptions and beliefs of these parents in regard to SIDS. The methodology used included focus group and individual in-depth semi-structured interviews with African-American parents. The study had a sample size of 83 mothers to establish the reasons for the decisions they make in regard to infant sleep conditions and factors that influence such decisions. The collected data was coded after which themes were developed to help in the analysis. The themes included vigilance, lack of plausibility and randomness. The findings demonstrated that most mothers believed that the association between infant sleep conditions and SIDS was implausible based on the idea that the cause of SIDS is still unknown. On their opinion, they do not understand how certain behaviors get categorized as risk factors. They further stated that this confusion was because of the inconsistencies that are present in the recommendations. Majority of the mothers believed that SIDS was due to God’s will and it can only be prevented through vigilance. The study limitation was that it focused on African-American mothers only and the findings cannot be used on mothers from different ethnic backgrounds.
The next article was by Ferrari et al. (2013) and its objective was to determine the factors for neonatal mortality rates. The study did not have a clear problem statement, but it was attempting to breach the gaps from previous studies that had linked the deaths to socioeconomic differences. The study analyzed deaths between 2000 and 2009. . Data was extracted from Live Birth Declaration (DN), Declaration of Death (DO) and Infant Death Invetigation Sheets of the Municipal Committee for the Prevention of Martenal and Child Mortality (CMPMMI). The study dismissed earlier studies that hypothesized that variables family income, maternal age, marital status, occupation, years of educ...