HEALTH

Why Black Infants Face Added Danger in American Hospitals

An essay examining the role of personal and institutional racism

Close-up shot of a mother carrying her baby | Photo by PNW Production

Black infants are born into a society saturated with racism. So much so that before they share their first smile with the world or become strong enough to hold up their heads, they're impacted by the prejudice of others. Often, White doctors and nurses are their first point of contact. Thus, it would stand to reason that their racial attitudes impact their health and well-being. Consider, for instance, an investigation of 1.8 hospital births in the state of Florida from 1992 to 2015, which found that "the infant mortality rate among Black babies was more than double that of White babies." Such a disparity shouldn't be brushed off as a mere coincidence.

Indeed, research published in the Academy of Sciences has demonstrated that Black infants fare much better under the care of Black doctors. "Black newborns had 430 more fatalities in 100,000 births than white newborns," the study revealed. "When under the care of Black doctors, this difference dropped by 257 in 100,000 deaths," a whopping 58%. These findings suggest that the race of the doctors can explain some of the disparity in survival rates among Black and White babies. Some have argued that the poor health of babies, in this…