The Black And White Infant Mortality Gap Essay

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.

In the US, black women are over three times more likely to die from maternally related complications than white women, and their babies are less likely to survive their first year (Oparah & Bonparte, 2015). Birthing Justice: Black Women, Pregnancy and Childbirth, edited by Julia Chineyere Oparah and Alicia D. Bonaparte tells the stories, experiences, oppression, and subjection of black women in the maternal health care system. Each chapter in the book explained a certain key point in the experience of black women and the health care system. In the following, I will discuss how the medical industrial complex or the introduction of medical treatments has not only stripped women of color, trans women, poor and immigrant women of their autonomy, but has sustained the hierarchy of patriarchy in the health system.

“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).

Racial and ethnic health disparities have been a topic on the rise as of late. According to Flores (2010), little attention has been shown to ethic and racial health disparities in children. For example, only 5 of 103 studies in the Institute of Medicine's extensive review any findings, studies, or literature address health disparities of racial or ethnic issues dealing with children (Flores, 2010). These disparities are and persistent, and happen across the many categories of health and health care. The objective of this study was to review as many off the published literatures on these racial and ethnic health disparities.

Epidemiology is the study of the relationships between disease and causation in human populations. It utilizes research and scientific methods to identify risk factors and approaches to decrease disease risk and to promote healthy habits. Community health nurses use this science to assess, diagnose, plan, and evaluate health improvement initiatives (Nies & McEwen, 2015-a). Ecosocial epidemiology is a newer, more complex approach as it focuses on the role of social, environmental, political and economic factors along with biological processes to understand health and illness (Nies & McEwan, 2015-b). In this post, I will discuss the rate of infant mortality among the African-American population in Franklin County and apply the ecosocial

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

Within the contemporary generation today, many fundamental factors such as social, environmental, biological and epigenetics play significant roles towards understanding the connection between humans and their health. For example, race-based health disparities can be witnessed within society especially considering different health related diseases such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke etc (Kuzawa and Sweet 2). Furthermore, prior to reading the article, Epigenetics and the Embodiment of Race: Developmental Origins of US Racial Disparities in Cardiovascular Health I was quite unfamiliar with the concept of health disparity within the racial norm of the society. For instance, an African American man in Harlem is less likely than

With respect to black women in particular Geronimus' "weather" hypothesis suggests that chronic stress created by deprivation of rights, racism and social and economic disadvantage leads to more rapid declines in early health in adulthood, among black women than white women in the United States. Work focused on physiological stress pathways highlights how time can cause faster biological aging, thus putting women at risk of adverse birth outcomes, including SGA newborns before they are pregnant. Physiological dis-regulation induced by chronic exposure stress can lead to excess cortisol, a hormone and corticotropin releasing, which can retard fetal growth. In addition, the metabolic processes in circulating maternal cardiovascular dysfunction

Throughout this video the causes of low birth weights, amongst minorities, was examined. Despite prior popular beliefs, that low African American birth weights were caused by the socio-economic status of their mothers, a theory known as the life-course perspective identifies the presence of chronic stress as the cause of

These are defined as the conditions in which people work, play, grow, live that affect wide range of health and quality of life. The determinants like socio-economic status, race, ethnicity, social capital, behavioral factors (e.g., tobacco use, maternal smoking), biological and psychosocial factors (e.g., family and peer social support) which greatly affects the inequalities among minorities in infant mortality and birth outcomes (Kim, 2013). In order to understand the social determinants impacting infant mortality and birth outcomes, it is important to understand the conceptual framework of societal to individual level determinants of infant mortality and birth outcomes. Conceptual framework includes identifying social determinants at mirco, meso and macro levels. This in turn will help in interpreting patterns of disparities in infant mortality and birth outcomes among blacks. Social conditions consists of where people work, play, age, born, live etc. which depends on their race, ethnicity, gender, social capital, socio-economic status. Macroeconomic determinants include income inequality, which directly affect the infant mortality rates. Income inequality means household income and unemployment for women. In order to reduce the incidences of infant mortality, reducing the income inequalities and generating employment and increasing economic growth among women of childbearing age will help to achieve the desired outcome. Access to prenatal care also influenced by social

Neonatal and perinatal health outcomes will influence the overall future health of an individual. Indeed, many illnesses and disorders originate from prenatal and early infancy abnormal developments. Preterm-birth and low-birth weight have been positively correlated with adverse health outcomes ranging from childhood to the adult life of an individual. Thus, it is essential for public health professionals to understand not only the biological factors influencing the birth timing and weight, but also the psychosocial dynamics which may impact those outcomes. For years, many scientists have observed what is called the ‘migrant paradox’. The migrant paradox designates a situation where first generation immigrants who are almost

A third determinant of high infant mortality rate is whether the mother is educated or not. Plenty of studies have found that low education levels can lead to poor pregnancy outcomes such as infant mortality (Loggins & Andrade, 2014). However, although the attainment of education for blacks increased, the infant mortality rate still declined at a slower rate compared to those whites that had an education attainment increased (Loggins & Andrade, 2014). This could mean that it is not solely one determinant that impacts infant mortality. Each determinant combined can have a contributing factor towards infant mortality.

This article sought to assess the effect of neighborhood environment on birthweight and the potential mediation by psychosocial, behavioral, and biological factors. Authors provided the reasoning for their study by indicating that the effect of neighborhood on birth outcomes has been well-documented in the literature, still the mechanism by which neighborhood context affects these outcomes was not clear. Their review of the literature was very comprehensive in that it covered many aspects related to the complex relationships between neighborhood context and birth outcomes. However, they only briefly commented on the potential protective effect of racial segregation on birth outcomes; a possibility that has been documented in the literature

Children are vital to the nation’s present and its future. Parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles are usually committed to providing every advantage possible to the children in their families, and to ensuring that they are healthy and have the opportunities that they need to fulfill their potential. Yet communities vary considerably in their commitment to the collective health of children and in the resources that they make available to meet children’s needs. This is reflected in the ways in which communities address their collective commitment to children, specifically to their health. In recent years, there has been an increased focus on issues that affect children and on improving their health.

Historically, living in rural areas was considered a health advantage. People, such as tuberculosis patients, were frequently sent into the country for fresh air and a change of scenery (Lourenço 2012). However, as the scientific understanding of disease expanded and urban population and political power grew, these advantages diminished. Today, staggering disparities exist across the globe in the health status of rural populations compared to their urban counterparts, both within and between countries, especially in regard to maternal and infant health. Developing countries experience these inequalities with greater severity due to lack of infrastructure and resources, as is the case with many other global health issues For example, in Burundi, as of 2014, the urban infant mortality rate was 49 deaths per 1000 live births, while the rural infant mortality rate was 81. In 2014 in Laos had an urban infant mortality rate of 39 but a rural infant mortality rate of 85. Finally, in Bolivia in 2014, the urban infant mortality rate was 43 while the rural mortality rate was 75 (Population Reference Bureau 2014). These data demonstrate the dramatic inequity between urban and rural areas, which indicates disparate access to health care infrastructure, providers, and education. The global health community must work to alleviate these disparities through providing a universal definition of what constitutes a rural area, utilizing new technologies and other innovations to reach isolated