Infant mortality refers to what measurement?

Infant mortality specifically refers to the number of deaths that occur among infants within their first year of life, typically expressed as a rate per 1,000 live births. This statistic is a key indicator of the overall health and wellbeing of a population, reflecting factors such as maternal health, the quality of health care, and social conditions affecting newborns and their families.

The other choices, while related to infant health, describe different measurements. The rate of illness in infants focuses on morbidity rather than mortality, life expectancy of infants addresses how long infants are expected to live but does not provide information on actual deaths, and hospitalization rates of infants concern the frequency of hospital admissions, which is not directly related to mortality.