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7. No maternal deaths in 2011

Finland's infant mortality is nowadays one of the lowest in the whole world. Nowadays only a few per mille die at the age of under one, and the most common cause of death for children aged under one is inborn malformation. Infectious diseases and violence are very rare causes of death among under one-year-olds.

In 2011, 142 children (infants) died under the age of one. Fifty per cent of children dying under the age of one died during their first week of life and two thirds during the first four weeks of life. Perinatal mortality (deaths during the first week and stillborn) was 4.0 per thousand births. The figure has been falling from the beginning of the 1980s to nearly one half. In 2011 there were 11 cot deaths.

Mortality of children aged 1 to 14 has more than halved in the last twenty years. There were 97 deaths among children aged 1 to 14 in 2011. This corresponds to around 12 deaths per 100,000 population. The lower number of deaths among children aged 1 to 14 is primarily caused by the decrease in accident mortality.

Maternal mortality started to fall already in the 1970s, after which around zero to seven mothers have died per year. There were no maternal deaths in 2011.

More information about mortality during infant and perinatal period can be found in Appendix Table 3.

Source: Causes of death, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Marja-Liisa Helminen 09 1734 3273, Airi Pajunen 09 1734 3605, kuolemansyyt@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Updated 21.12.2012