A rise in infant deaths is hitting the North, including York, the hardest and exposing inequalities between the region and the rest of the country, research has found.

Figures showed York’s infant mortality rate rose from 2.5 per 1,000 births in 2021 to 3.2 in 2022, compared to 4.2 to 5.1 across Yorkshire and 3.7 to 3.9 in England.

The University of York’s Professor Kate Pickett, co-director of Health Equity North, said their analysis of the data highlighted alarming inequalities and called for action to tackle the causes.

A spokesperson for the local Integrated Care Board (ICB) said they would continue to advocate for measures to alleviate poverty which contributes to mortality rates.

It comes as the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showed deaths before a child’s first birthday have risen yearly across England since 2020.

It follows a downward trend from 2000 when the national rate stood at 5.6 per 1,000 births to 3.6 in 2014.

There was an increase to 3.9 in 2017 before rates fell back to 3.6 by 2020.

A total of 2,240 babies died before their first birthday in 2022 compared to 2,209 the previous year.

Health Equity North found the increases were largely driven by rising rates in the North, including Yorkshire and the Humber, the North East and North West.

The organisation’s report on the trends linked the increases to prematurity, abnormalities from birth, low birthweight, maternal age and deprivation and poverty.

Research also found mortality rates for infants from black ethnic backgrounds was more than double that of those of White British heritage, 6.8 compared to 3.1 respectively.

Five infants died before their first birthday in York in 2022 and eight were still born out of 1,573 live births, resulting in rates of 3.2 and 5.1 respectively.

It was up from four deaths and eight still births recorded out of the 1,619 live births in 2021.

The rates compare to the highest infant mortality rate in Yorkshire and the Humber which was 7.2 in North Lincolnshire and the lowest of 2.3 in the East Riding.

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York’s infant mortality rate for 2022 and 2021 compares to the 4.8 recorded five years prior in 2017.

A rate of four deaths per 1,000 live births was recorded across Yorkshire and the Humber in 2012, with only regional figures published at that time.

Prof Pickett said that although York’s mortality rates were not as bad as other parts of Yorkshire the fact they were rising was still concerning.

The academic said: “This is a shocking situation to be in for a rich, developed country, we should be appalled that infant mortality rates are going up.

“York itself isn’t doing badly, mortality rates here are pretty close to the national average.

“It’s a fairly affluent city but even here deaths have risen over time.

“It’s absolutely devastating for a family to lose a baby in the first year of its life, families don’t ever really recover from it, we should be trying really hard as a society to avoid putting families through that.”

The spokesperson for the Humber and North Yorkshire ICB said they would continue working to address the factors that contributed to infant mortality.

The spokesperson said: “Every stillbirth and premature infant death is a tragedy and our hearts go out to people who have suffered this loss.”

Anita Dobson, chair of the York and North Yorkshire Child Death Overview Panel, said the local mortality rate was thankfully relatively low but their work to reduce deaths continues.

The chair said: “The infant mortality rise between 2021 and 2022 equates to one child however we recognise that one child is one too many.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Health and Social Care said the Government planned to train thousands more midwives to better support women and help failing hospital trusts make improvements.

The spokesperson said: “It is unacceptable that infant mortality figures are rising, and these statistics lay bare the stark inequalities in outcomes for babies.

“The government is committed to giving all children a healthy, happy start to life and closing the black and Asian maternal mortality gap.”