INFANT AND MATERNAL MORTALITY IN ALBANIA

Changes in Albanian infant and maternal mortality were studied. All av ailable figures for infant deaths and female deaths, in relation to de livery over the years 1989-1993 were included. The analysis of trends concerned mortality and abortion figures as well as indicators of time , place and causes. Infant mortality decreased from 98 per 1000 in 197 0 to 28 per 1000 in 1990, but since then has shown a significant incre ase. In the period since 1990 the number of births has diminished each year by 5%, whilst the number of deliveries in hospital has increased . It appeared that the infant mortality in hospital increased the firs t day after birth. in general infant deaths occurred more often in the first week than in the following 3 weeks. There was an increase in de ath from pulmonary diseases, while infectious diseases and congenital anomalies showed a decrease. Maternal mortality decreased annually, bu t only mortality caused by abortion decreased constantly. There was a large shift in the number of abortions which fell into two categories: induced and therapeutical. The changes in infant mortality could be r elated to the deterioration of the health care system after 1991. On t he other hand, errors in the records could have influenced results. Ma ternal mortality decreased due to better abortion practice, whilst the increase in abortions seemed to indicate that this was an important m ethod of family planning.