Black Babies Matter

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.

Automated summary

Despite advancements in neonatal intensive care, African-American infants still have a higher mortality rate than non-Latinx White infants. This essay explores the impact of upstream factors related to structural racism on African-American women's birth outcomes and proposes a paradigm to address racial health inequity by considering the interplay of racism and social class.