A latest UK research states that children born to mothers under 30 are more likely to die.
The researchers at the Institute of Child Health at UCL studied data of UK children using death registration from January 1980 to December 2010. They examined various factors such as child injuries, birth weight and maternal age to find the reason for early child deaths.
The results showed that the difference in mortality rates between children of young mothers and those above 30 was 11 percent of all deaths up to nine years old, reported BBC. The researchers noted that it was equal to the average of 397 deaths in the UK every year.
The researchers said that the biggest difference in numbers was observed in infant deaths from ages one month to one year. They said the deaths were "strongly associated with maternal alcohol use, smoking and deprivation."
Economic disadvantages and young ager of the mothers were observed to be the reasons for the deaths of the children.
In the UK around 52 percent of births are by young mother below the age of 30. "Disadvantage and maternal age are factors often associated with child deaths. The government has recognised the vulnerability of the children of teenage mothers and given these families extra help with parenting. In England the Family Nurse Partnership is an intensive, structured, home-visiting programme, which is offered to first-time parents under the age of 20," said Ruth Gilbert, lead researcher and professor of clinical epidemiology at UCL Institute of Child Health.
"A specially trained nurse visits regularly from early pregnancy until the child is two years old. This project has excellent results, but is not available to older mothers. We would like the Family Nurse Partnership to be extended to take older mothers who need help," she added.
