Table 2 Infant mortality rate (per 1000 live births), 5 year periods preceding the survey and unadjusted Odds Ratio by explanatory variables (n = 5391, weighted)

Ecological Region

 Mountain

428

7.9

65 [49–80]

1.45*

1.04

2.03

 Hill

2131

39.5

45 [35–55]

1.12

0.84

1.50

 Terai

2833

52.5

44 [34–55]

1

-

-

Development Region

 Far western

605

11.2

66 [49–83]

1.74*

1.11

2.71

 Mid western

793

14.7

42 [30–53]

1.18

0.75

1.87

 Eastern

1269

23.5

46 [32–61]

1.17

0.74

1.85

 Central

1717

31.8

45 [31–60]

1.11

0.70

1.78

 Western

1007

18.7

40 [25–55]

1

-

-

Type of place of residence

 Rural

4888

90.7

47 [40–55]

1.30

0.92

1.82

 Urban

503

9.3

40 [26–54]

1

-

-

 Wealth Index

 Poorest

1390

25.8

49 [38–60]

2.53***

1.51

4.21

 Poorer

1182

21.9

50 [35–66]

2.21**

1.28

3.80

 Middle

1133

21.0

55 [37–73]

2.11**

1.21

3.67

 Richer

937

17.4

41 [25–57]

1.90*

1.07

3.38

 Richest

748

13.9

29 [14–45]

1

-

-

Ethnicity

 Dalit

958

19.8

52 [34–71]

1.05

0.73

1.50

 Janajati

1751

36.2

49 [36–60]

1.05

0.77

1.43

 Other (Muslim and Terai other caste)

410

8.5

51 [23–82]

1.21

0.69

2.11

 Brahmin Chhetri and Newar

1713

35.5

38 [30–46]

1

-

-

Religion

 Hindu

4466

82.8

47 [40–55]

1.18

0.81

1.72

 Others

926

17.2

42 [25–58]

1

-

-

Highest educational level of mother

 No education

2550

47.3

55 [44–66]

1.55*

1.15

2.10

 Primary

1079

20.0

44 [30–58]

1.35

0.93

1.97

 Secondary and higher

1763

32.7

36 [25–46]

1

-

-

Highest education level of father

 No education

1243

23.2

65 [48–83]

1.71**

1.26

2.32

 Primary

1312

24.5

51 [36–65]

1.32

0.97

1.79

 Secondary and higher

2801

52.3

36 [28–45]

1

-

-

Mother occupation

 Not working

1552

28.8

44 [31–59]

0.74

0.54

1.02

 High official work

147

2.7

20 [4–40]

0.38

0.12

1.20

 Sales and service

315

5.8

38 [11–66]

0.59

0.32

1.09

 Skilled manual

107

2.0

65 [14–80]

1.64

0.78

3.43

 Unskilled manual

103

1.9

19 [2–49]

0.62

0.23

1.70

 Agriculture

3164

58.7

50 [41–58]

1

-

-

Father occupation

 Official type

873

16.6

49 [31–69]

0.80

0.53

1.22

 Sales, services

1237

23.5

33 [23–44]

0.73

0.50

1.06

 Skilled manual

951

18.1

52 [33–72]

0.85

0.56

1.28

 Unskilled manual

833

15.9

58 [40–76]

1.17

0.81

1.70

 Agriculture

1361

25.9

45 [32–57]

1

-

-

Sex of the child

 Male

2780

51.6

46 [37–56]

1.06

0.83

1.37

 Female

2611

48.4

46 [37–56]

1

-

-

Size of child at birth

 Larger than average

958

17.8

38 [24–51]

0.89

0.62

1.28

 Smaller than average

661

12.3

42 [25–61]

0.91

0.61

1.36

 Very small

196

3.6

138 [81–190]

3.22***

2.11

4.92

 Average

3569

66.3

44 [36–53]

1

-

-

Birth rank and birth interval

 First birth rank

1833

34.0

47 [36–59]

1.44*

1.04

1.99

 2–3 birth rank & = <2 years of birth interval

567

10.5

72 [45–100]

2.07**

1.37

3.12

 > = 4 birth rank & > 2 years of birth interval

895

16.6

31 [18–45]

0.99

0.65

1.52

 > = 4 birth rank & = <2 years of birth interval

296

5.5

81 [43–120]

2.37**

1.46

3.85

 2–3 birth rank and >2 years birth interval

1794

33.3

39 [28–51]

1

-

-

Age of mother at child birth

 <20 years

2941

54.6

53 [43–63]

1.27

0.98

1.65

 20–35 years

2450

45.4

39 [30–48]

1

-

-

Antenatal visit

 No

609

30.9

49 [29–70]

0.93

0.60

1.44

 Yes

1363

69.1

53 [37–68]

1

-

-

Use of tobacco

 No

687

12.7

49 [33–65]

1.32

0.95

1.83

 Yes

4704

87.3

46 [38–53]

1

-

-

Place of delivery

 Home

3402

64.1

49 [40–58]

1.31

0.99

1.73

 Health Facility

1905

35.9

38 [28–49]

1

-

-

Delivery assistance

 By TBA/Others

3542

65.7

49 [41–58]

1.26

0.95

1.65

 By SBA/Health professional

1849

34.3

41 [30–52]

1

-

-

Postnatal check of visits

 No

2221

53.8

36 [26–44]

3.23**

1.62

6.42

 Within 24 h

1094

26.5

22 [10–33]

1.99

0.93

4.27

 1 day to 45 days

816

19.7

11 [03–19]

1

-

-

National total

53915391

46