Black Babies Matter

James W Collins Jr; Richard J David

doi:10.1016/j.clp.2021.11.017

Black Babies Matter

Clin Perinatol. 2022 Mar;49(1):93-101. doi: 10.1016/j.clp.2021.11.017. Epub 2022 Jan 21.

Authors

James W Collins Jr¹, Richard J David²

Affiliations

¹ Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Division of Neonatology, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Box 45, 225 E. Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611, USA. Electronic address: jcollins@northwestern.edu.
² Division of Neonatology, Stroger Hospital of Cook County, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, 1969 Ogden Avenue, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.

PMID: 35210011
DOI: 10.1016/j.clp.2021.11.017

Abstract

Despite dramatic advancements in neonatal intensive care since the 1960s, African-American infants still have more than a two-fold higher first-year mortality rate than non-Latinx White infants. Our essay examines the impact of upstream factors closely linked to the historical and contemporary context of structural racism in the United States on the African-American women's birth outcome disadvantage. In the process, we propose a paradigm to address the racial health inequity in adverse birth outcome by considering the interplay of racism and social class.

Keywords: African–American; Infant mortality; Preterm birth; Racial discrimination; Racial disparity; Social class.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Black or African American
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Pregnancy
Premature Birth*
Racism*
United States / epidemiology