Racism and Infant Mortality

What's Killing America's Black Infants? is a fascinating and distress read. As the author writes:

White, educated American women lose their infants at rates similar to mothers in America’s peer countries. Most of the burden of the higher mortality rate here is borne by poorer, less-educated families, particularly those headed by unmarried or black women. Across the United States, black infants die at a rate that’s more than twice as high as that of white infants. 

What is causing this disparity in outcomes? Why are black infants dying more frequently? The author reviews the common reasons (poor maternal healthcare, poor nutrition, just poverty generally), but finds that the constant stress of racial prejudice and discrimination may be at the root:

Chronic stress raises amounts of cortisone, a hormone that at elevated levels triggers labor. It can also cause an inflammatory response that restricts blood flow to the placenta, stunting infant growth. But it’s not just stress during pregnancy that matters: Health experts now think that stress throughout the span of a woman’s life can prompt biological changes that affect the health of her future children. Stress can disrupt immune, vascular, metabolic, and endocrine systems, and cause cells to age more quickly. 

Some cities are working to decrease infant mortality with a specific focus on black infants. This article, however, reminds us that experiences of discrimination may go well beyond the immediate pain and when repeated throughout one's life may result in negative generational outcomes.