African American Infant Mortality Research Paper

Discuss disparities related to ethnic and cultural groups relative to low birth weight infants and preterm births. Describe the impact of extremely low birth weight babies on the family and on the community (short-term and long-term, including economic considerations, on-going care considerations, and co-morbidities associated with prematurity). Identify at least one support service within your community for preterm infants and their family. Provide the link for your colleagues to view. Does the service adequately address needs of this population? Explain your answer.

Infant mortality rate constitutes the death of a baby before their first birthday. Mortality rates around the world differ tremendously with America leading the first world countries at an alarming rate of 6.1 deaths per 1,000 births. Conversely, Finland and Japan secure the last, most desirable position, with deaths totaling 2.3 per 1,000 births, as of 2010. (Ovaska-Few, 2015) In 2014, over 23,000 babies died in the United States. (CDC, 2016) Exploring the mortality rates in America brings light to a dire need for additional interventions and research as to why this developing nation has the highest rate of infant deaths before the age of 1 year old. African Americans face the worst outcomes of infant death compared to whites, Latino, and their Native American peers in North Carolina. (Ovaska-Few, 2015) This paper will explore why African American are the leading race for infant mortality and the steps that health communities need to take to address this devastating occurrence.

“Compared with European Americans, African American infants experience disproportionately high rates of low birth weight (LBW) and preterm delivery and are more than twice as likely to die during their 1st year of life”(Giscombé, C. L., & Lobel, M., 2005). The infant mortality rate for African Americans is 13.7 deaths per 1000 live births, more than twice the rate (5.7) for White Americans in the U.S. (Kung, Hoyert, Xu, & Murphy, 2008). A lot of the racial disparity in infant mortality can be explained by low birthweight and preterm delivery, which are also disproportionately and often experienced by African Americans (Martin et al., 2007).

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is a condition that many people still are trying to figure out why it happens to these babies. This syndrome is described as an unexplained death of an infant younger than one year of age. SIDS is frightening because it can strike without warning and affect a good, healthy infant. Most SIDS deaths occur at night and without warning. SIDS victims may have been down for sleep for as little as ten minutes, they show signs of struggle or suffering. Although SIDS is commonly associated with an infants sleep time, and often occurs in the crib. This event is not limited to the crib and may occur anywhere the infant is sleeping, deaths have occurred in

associations in a pathway model connecting race-based discrimination, stress, and negative preterm birth outcomes in African American women.

For the America by the Numbers with Maria Hinojosa assignment, I chose to watch the episode “Surviving Year One”. This episode was about the infant mortality rate in Rochester, New York. The infant mortality rate and the poverty rate for this area is very high. The episode also discussed pre-natal care, pregnancy stress, poverty, and marital services. In Rochester, African American babies are twice as likely to be victims of infant mortality or 11.46%. Other racial groups affected include: Puerto Ricans at 7.10%, Native Americans at 8.28%, and Whites at 5.18%. Not only are African American babies more prone to infant mortality, but preterm births hit this community hard at 16.3%. Factor possibly contributing to the infant mortality and preterm

In the Low Country area of South Carolina( Allendale, Bamberg, Hampton, and Orangeburg counties), African American women have been linked with low birth weight babies. Within the low country black babies are born at a low birth weight more frequently than babies of any other ethnic group. The Low Country Healthy Start program is designed to eliminate disparities in perinatal health and improve birth outcomes and quality of life in African American women. A process evaluation will be conducted in order to define the risk associated with chronic disease, recognize who is high risk, what services are provided by LCHS, who receive these services, and if the services provided are efficient.

Premature birth is an important public health priority in terms of health of women and infants. Every year an estimated 15 million preterm babies are born and this number is still rising (WHO, 2015).In 2014, 1 of every 10 babies born in United States were premature and black infants were 50% more likely to be born premature than white, Hispanic and Asian/Pacific islander infants (CDC,2015). Almost 1 million children die each year due to complications of premature birth (WHO, 2015). Major survivors face lifelong disabilities like learning disabilities, hearing, visual, feeding, digestive, breathing and respiratory problems (CDC, 2015) and low birth weight (March of Dimes, 2014). A major challenge in decreasing the rate of preterm birth is

Discuss disparities related to ethnic and cultural groups relative to low birth weight infants and preterm births.

The black infant mortality rate in 2010, (11.8) was similar to the white infant mortality rate in 1980 (11.7); an unbelievable thirty year difference for a balance measure (Florida Vital Statistics Annual Report, 2012). Currently, in the local community of Orange County, Florida the infant mortality rate exceeds that of the US at 7.5, and the rate is also doubled in African American women at 13.5, wheres it is 5.6 for births by white women (Florida Charts, 2014). Per Florida Charts (2014), disorders related to short gestation (pre-term birth – less than 37 weeks of pregnancy) and low birth weight, followed by sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) are the leading causes of infant deaths in African American births in Orange County, which is relative to the rest of the

The mortality rate has been high in the region but in the past ten years there has been a notable decrease in birth rate. This has however not affected the population growth of the area. The Chicago pregnant mothers have smoking habits which is one of the causes of the decrease in the birth rate. Generally the area recorded a decrease in the infant mortality rate. It decreased from 7.6 in 2003 to 7.3 infants’ death less than 1 year of age per 1,000 live births in 2004. This represents the second lowest record in the United States according to Illinois Centre for Health Statistics, a division of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). According to the report, the infant mortality rate decreased by 4.6 per cent between 2003 and 2004 and at the same period the birth rate decreased by 0.9 percent. This was due to the fall in the number of the total births in the area. However, there was a decrease in the mortality rate in the state during this period due to the effects of the neonatal period. The neonatal mortality rate decreased from 6.5 to 5.4 percent between 2003 and 2004 while the postnatal mortality rate increased from 3.1to 3.0 between the same periods (2003-2004). The infant mortality rate recorded a larger decline among the blacks compared to the whites, that is, 15.6 in 2003 to 14.8 in 2004 (Sinai Urban Health

The Low Country Healthy Start program was designed to eliminate disparities in perinatal health, improve birth outcomes, and quality of life in African American women and infants living in Allendale, Bamberg, Hampton, and Orangeburg counties. This process evaluation sought to determine whether the services provided by LCHS were effective in changing the birth outcomes associated with chronic disease in African American women. Data collected from the initial risk screening and assessment survey along with attendance data from services provided by LCHS was utilized. Case summaries and frequencies were ran on all data linked with chronic disease to determine the risk factors, recognize who was at risk, and what services were provided. Findings suggest that Asthma was the most common chronic disease amongst its participants with smoking tobacco, poor coping skills, negative feelings, and inadequate housing being the risk factors associated with asthma. The services provided by LCHS were found to be insufficient in reaching participants with chronic disease. The program in general proves to be useful and beneficial in addressing the major issues associated with low birthweight infants, however the data collected for this particular study is all self-reported which leaves gaps and unanswered questions due to inconsistency in the data received.

-Race or ethnicity: Historically, minority populations in the United States have had higher rates of preterm delivery. In 2007, non-Hispanic White women accounted for the lowest number of preterm births in the United States, accounting for only 11.5% of all preterm births (MacDorman, 2011). In contrast, non-Hispanic Blacks, Puerto Ricans, American Indians and Hispanic women had preterm birth levels of 18.3%, 14.5%, 13.9% and 12.3% respectively (MacDorman, 2011). The Asian minority had the lowest risk at 10.9% (MacDorman, 2011). Some studies have attributed such significant differences to racial disparities in resources and health care (Dominguez, 2008; Vanderbilt & Wright, 2013). However, other studies such as Menon’s et al, which looked at differences in White versus Black women, suggest that racial disparities in preterm birth may

This goal focuses on specific topic areas that address a wide range of conditions, health systems, and health behaviors in order to improve wellness, health, and quality of life for women. The healthcare system has to be prepared for the challenges in public health for maternal and child health program predicted for the next generation in the way that it provides services for communities, health care systems, and families. The role of public health is to find out how to solve problems related to health risks for pregnancy by identifying existing health risks in women and by preventing future health problem for women and their children. These health risks include hypertension and heart disease, diabetes, depression, tobacco use, alcohol abuse, unhealthy weight, inadequate nutrition, and genetic conditions. There are several factors that may become barriers of access for women in the healthcare system. One factor is the woman’s socioeconomic level, with the outcomes for maternal and child health becoming different for various socioeconomic levels. Poor maternal health may increase the risk of poor child health outcomes, and the socioeconomic status of the child’s parents affects their choice of healthcare options, such as receiving better quality medical care and food, as well as living in safer housing and neighborhoods. Many other factors that can also affect

In his article, "Why are so many U.S. women dying during childbirth?", Munz (2012) pointed out that U.S. is experiencing a rise in maternal mortality. It has doubled for the last 25 years and the experts are uncertain about the increase. Experts are not entirely clear for the rise in the maternal deaths in the U.S., but there are some aspects that may be link to this.