Why has Japan been declared as the safest place in the World to deliver a baby by the UNICEF?

Japan’s infant mortality rate in 2015 was 2.04 per thousand which is the lowest in the world. This statistic itself is the strongest indicator of the reason why the UNICEF considers Japan to be the safest place on earth to give birth to a baby. Obviously, there are many other medical, sociological and technological reasons that have combined to ensure such strong child immunity rates in Japan but it will also be worthwhile to consider the inherent discipline with which a Japanese individual lives his or her life.

For instance, pregnant women in Japan avoid the pain-relieving epidural procedure out of respect for their culture which considers labor pain a necessity for bonding between mother and child.

Strict Food and Behavior Norms

This doesn’t imply that avoiding epidural to endure labor pain results in improved infant survival rates in Japan but it certainly validates the fact that a majority of childbirths in Japan happen normally with the best child survival rate in the world. This clearly proves that pregnant Japanese women take very good care of their health by complying with strict food and behavior norms. 

Maternity in Japan is treated with a lot more sensitivity and intensity than in most other parts of the world. Women, who give normal birth to their babies, stay in hospital care for five days while those who deliver through the Caesarean process remain in hospital care for a full week.

Advanced Hospital Care

Depending on the condition of the mother and child, the period of hospital care can increase considerably. Babies born prematurely sometimes develop complications and have to be kept in an incubator for a long time stretching up to a month in some cases. While this is very expensive in most countries including the United States where it cost $200 per day, in Japan, it is completely free of cost. 

No one factor can be singled out as the reason to explain the brilliant child survival rate in Japan but it is the approach toward a traditional but robust maternity culture combined with the efficiency of an advanced industrial society that makes it the safest place for a child to be born.