Early Neonatal Mortality in India: A Study of Trends, Determinants and Inequalities

Binod Jena, Jawaharlal Nehru University

This paper examines the trends, determinants and inequalities in early neonatal mortality in India using SRS and NFHS datasets.The concentration index and Wagstaff’s decomposition technique is used to study the inequalities in early neonatal mortality and its determinants. The results show that the present level of early neonatal mortality rate in India is very high and its share in neonatal mortality rate has already reached to more than 75 percent. The probability of dying was higher among newborns of very small birth size and born to old age mothers and living in unhygienic environment and lower among newborns born to mothers who were taking full antenatal care and having at least secondary education. The inequality analysis shows that early neonatal deaths are concentrated among the poor population and the main determinants of the inequalities are maternal illiteracy, no ANC utilization, poor economic status and residency in rural areas.