Infant Mortality Rate in Black Mothers in the United States

Blackeney, E. R., Herting, J. R., Bekemeier, B., & Zierler, B. K. (2019). Social determinants of health and disparities in prenatal care utilization during the Great Recession period 2005-2010. BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth, 19(1):390. Web.

This article explores the question of why different racial and ethnic groups within the US have unequal access to prenatal care, which is a strong predictor of infant mortality rates. The authors cross-reference approximately 670,000 birth certificates with community data to find that young age and low education correlate strongly with insufficient prenatal care, disproportionally affecting young black mothers. This source may be used to demonstrate how racial disparity in infant mortality rates depends on the lack of prenatal as well as postnatal care.

Gillespie-Bell, V. (2021). The contrast of color: Why the black community continues to suffer health disparities. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 137(2), 220-224. Web.

This article poses the question of what are the defining reasons for the racial disparity in infant mortality in the United States. Using historical statistics, she points out that the root of the problem is not merely several select social health determinants but structural racism that defines how healthcare is delivered. The article may be used to demonstrate that, while individual social health determinants are important, racial bias within the healthcare system may also be a prominent cause of higher rates of infant mortality in black mothers.

Green, T., & Hamilton, T. G. (2019). Maternal educational attainment and infant mortality in the United States: Does the gradient vary by race/ethnicity and nativity? Demographic Research, 43, 713-752. Web.

This article investigates whether and how the correlation between maternal education levels and infant mortality rates in the US changes depending on race or ethnicity. The authors use the statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics and logical regression models to find that, among racial and ethnic groups, black mothers have the lowest return to education. This article may be useful to demonstrate that maternal education level as a social health determinant cannot be the only explanation for the disparity in infant mortality rates.

Kirby, A. S. (2017). The US black-white infant mortality gap: Marker of deep inequities. American Journal of Public Health, 107(5), 644645. Web.

This article poses the question of what the underlying causes of the racial disparity in infant mortality in the US are. The author analyzes the birth statistics data from the CDC and arrives at a conclusion that quotable access to healthcare is not enough, and the solution should lie on the policy level. This source may be used to demonstrate how an exclusive focus on a selected range of social health determinants may be a limited approach.

Loggins, S., & Andrade, F. C. D. (2014). Despite an overall decline in US infant mortality rates, the black/white disparity persists: Recent trends and future projections. Journal of Community Health, 39(1), 118-23. Web.

This article analyzes the black/white disparity in infant mortality in the US. Its research question is how this disparity manifested between 1995 and 2009 and what the future projections are. The study uses CDC data on birth and infant mortality to establish that black mothers suffer 2.2 times more infant death due to social health determinants, and the pattern is likely to persist. This source would be useful for outlining the historical context of racial disparity in infant mortality and comparing the authors estimations with actual figures for later years.

MacDorman, M. F. (2011). Race and ethnic disparities in fetal mortality, preterm birth, and infant mortality in the United States: An overview. Seminars in Perinatology, 35(4), 200-8. Web.

This article poses the question of how significant the racial disparities in infant mortality and related issues actually are and what are the reasons for that. The authors use data from both National Center for Health Statistics and the Center for Disease Control to establish that infant mortality rates among black women are more than twice those of white women. It also highlights that many such deaths are due to preterm births. This article is useful for both demonstrating the general historian trend and stressing the higher incidence of preterm birth in black mothers as an immediate cause of infant mortality.

Matoba, N., & Collins, J. W. (2017). Racial disparity in infant mortality. Seminars in Perinatology, 41(6), 354-359. Web.

This article aims to establish how the social context of race in the US rather than just the select social determinants of health impact racial disparity in infant mortality. They conduct a review of existing research to find out that stress and exposure to racism likely play a role in increasing infant mortality in black mothers. This source is best used to demonstrate how the social environment of the contemporary US, rather than merely disparate health determinants, impacts the situation.

Pabayo, R., Ehntholt, A., Davis, K., Liu, S. Y., Muennig, P., & Cook, D. (2019). Structural racism and odds for infant mortality among infants born in the United States 2010. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 6(6), 10951106. Web.

This article aims to establish how the estimations for structural racism impacting infant death mortality manifest in individual-level data. The authors use data on 2,163,096 white and 590,081 black infants and employ multilevel logistic regression to cross-reference them with structural racism indicators. Their findings suggest that uneven levels of education and judicial persecution correlate strongly with the rates of infant mortality. This source may be used to highlight the importance of both aforementioned factors as likely causes of higher infant mortality in black mothers.

Singh, J, K., & Yu, S. M. (2019). Infant mortality in the United States, 1915-2017: Large social inequalities have persisted for over a century. International Journal of Maternal and child health and AIDS, 8(1): 1931. Web.

This article aims to establish the historical background of racial disparities in infant mortality rates in the US. The authors use statistics over more than a hundred years to find that the black-white disparity, while always present, is near its all-time high in the early 21^st century. This data may be used to demonstrate that the growing disparity in mortality rates is best explained by the fact that newer and more efficient methods of preventing it are accessible to whites but not blacks.

Stiffler, D., Ayres, B., Fauvergue, C., & Cullen, D. (2018). Sudden infant death and sleep practices in the Black community. Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing, 23(2), e12213. Web.

This article discusses the possible reasons for the higher incidence of sudden infant death in blacks. Its research question is why black mothers are less inclined to adopt sleep practices known to reduce the rates of sudden infant death. Using meta-analysis of seven qualitative studies, the authors find out that the black mothers refusal to adopt better sleeping practices is primarily rooted in cultural norms and beliefs. This source may be used to highlight the cultural aspect of higher infant mortality and link it to insufficient education as a social health determinant preventing mothers from learning about better practices.

References

Gillespie-Bell, V. (2021). The contrast of color: Why the black community continues to suffer health disparities. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 137(2), 220-224. Web.

Kirby, A. S. (2017). The US black-white infant mortality gap: Marker of deep inequities. American Journal of Public Health, 107(5), 644645. Web.

MacDorman, M. F. (2011). Race and ethnic disparities in fetal mortality, preterm birth, and infant mortality in the United States: An overview. Seminars in Perinatology, 35(4), 200-8. Web.

Matoba, N., & Collins, J. W. (2017). Racial disparity in infant mortality. Seminars in Perinatology, 41(6), 354-359. Web.

Stiffler, D., Ayres, B., Fauvergue, C., & Cullen, D. (2018). Sudden infant death and sleep practices in the Black community. Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing, 23(2), e12213. Web.

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