Overall U.S. Infant Mortality Rates Have Declined Since 1980, but Racial Disparity Has Increased, CDC Study Shows

Although the overall national infant mortality rate has declined in the past 20 years, black infants are now more than twice as likely to die before their first birthdays as white infants, according to a new CDC study, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The study, which is published in the July 12 Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, found that the national infant mortality rate has declined by nearly 50% since 1980, dropping from 12.6 deaths per 1,000 live births to 6.9 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000 (McKenna, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7/12). But while the mortality rate for white infants declined by 48% since 1980, it has fallen only 37% among black infants during the same time period (McCook, Reuters Health, 7/11). The result is that the current infant mortality rate among white infants is 5.7 deaths per 1,000 live births, while among black infants there are 14 deaths per 1,000 live births. The racial disparity in infant mortality rates is now wider than it was 20 years ago, when black infants were twice as likely to die as white infants (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7/12). In addition, black women are two to three times more likely than white women to deliver a low-birthweight infant (Reuters Health, 7/11). CDC researcher and study author Dr. Wanda Barfield said that black women are also much more likely to give birth prematurely, which in turn increases the risk of a low birthweight infant as well as the chance that the baby will die within the first year of life.

Explaining the Racial Gap
Barfield noted that even when the "obvious" factors -- such as the age of the woman, education, income and amount of prenatal care -- were taken into account, these characteristics did not explain the higher rates of preterm delivery among black women. Underlying medical problems or disparities in the quality of prenatal care may account for some of the disparity, she stated, although further research needs to be conducted to confirm these hypotheses (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7/12). Barfield also suggested that social and environmental factors such as stress could also have an impact on preterm delivery rates (Reuters Health, 7/11). Some health officials "suspect that a lack of social support for black mothers" and a lower quality of prenatal care may be contributing to the higher infant mortality rates among blacks (AP/South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 7/11). Former Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher stated, "It is not all bad news: Infant mortality has improved in both populations. But it certainly is worth noting that there was more progress among whites than among blacks. If we are going to close that gap, we have to ask ourselves tough questions about what it will really take to address it" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7/12).