Closing 2022 with an infant mortality rate of 6.2 per 1,000 live births, below the national average and better than last year, the indicator is moved towards a certain zone of "tranquility", although that is not precisely the term.

We are talking about 3,682 births, 145 more than in the previous stage, and 23 children who died in this period, in which only Primero de Enero kept its rate at zero, while seven other municipalities decreased the figures.

The infant mortality rate in Ciego de Ávila, even when it did not meet the aspiration of being below four —the country's goal for the year that ended, also unfulfilled—, did halve the indicator compared to 2021, when it rose to 13 .8 per 1000 live births.

Thus, we returned to the parameters of before COVID-19: 2019 and 2020 ended with 6.1 per 1,000 live births, but at that time, it was the highest rate in Cuba. Now, with 6.2, the province ranks eighth and is below the national average of 7.5 per 1,000 live births.

The causes of mortality, although diverse, find a common root in perinatal conditions (associated with childbirth), which breaks the previously reported dangerous trend of counting deaths after 28 days after birth.

Nilka Pita Alemán, Provincial Director of Health, explained that prematurity and low birth weight have a high incidence in the province, which is why they predispose complications and increase hospital stays.

“Unlike what was experienced in 2021, only one of the deceased was as a result of sepsis. Pulmonary hypertension and congenital malformations incompatible for life were also counted among the fundamental causes”.

However, mortality from birth defects dropped from 2.5 to 1.4 per 1,000 live births, a number that corresponds to the death of two children whose malformations were detected prenatally and their parents did not want to interrupt the pregnancy.

According to Dr. Pita Alemán, psychological support for these families and timely monitoring of pregnant women in each municipality by a provincial team of obstetricians have been among the actions that seek to identify risks and control the application of the protocols.

Another piece of information not to be overlooked is provided by Dr. Belkis Pérez Falcón, head of the Section of the Maternal and Child Program (PAMI): 18.4 percent of births in 2022 correspond to adolescent mothers, which makes the evolution and treatment more complex, both of them and their babies. Consequently, five of the deceased and 39 of the children considered underweight met this condition.

Only one maternal death was reported, so the required quality indicator was met. In the age range between one and four years of age there were 30 deaths, 20 less compared to the previous year. The advances in assisted reproduction, which achieved 300 pregnancies at this stage are added to this.

There are other conditions that remain immovable at the center of PAMI and that, in the long run, will require more time and efforts to show better indicators; such is the case of the low occupational index of the maternity homes, the lack of intersectorality to attend the cases and the opportune evaluations of the preconception risks, guarantee of pregnancies without complications and healthy children.