What the textbooks don’t tell you about…Percentage mortality

I have been to several conferences and evening meetings recently where the subject of mortality to weaning was hotly debated. This column is not about how to improve things, as the textbooks do this very well. The tenor of the discussions I attended revolved around: “We should be achieving 6% or less mortality of born-alives to weaning, when it seems frustratingly stuck at 12% or more. And this despite better trained staff and improved conditions.” By John Gadd Beware of percentages! We we