Racial disparity in infant mortality remains a huge concern in US

The infant mortality rate is almost twice as high for African-American babies as for their white counterparts, says the US government.

A Haitian migrant woman holds her baby as she waits in line to put her name on a migrant-run, months-long list to request US asylum, alongside the El Chaparral pedestrian border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, November 30, 2018.
AP

A Haitian migrant woman holds her baby as she waits in line to put her name on a migrant-run, months-long list to request US asylum, alongside the El Chaparral pedestrian border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, November 30, 2018.

American babies are more likely to die before reaching the age of one than those in other wealthy nations. 

The US infant mortality rate is about twice as high as in Italy, Spain, and Sweden. 

A report published in 2018 blames America's high infant mortality rate on a relatively weak social safety net, a lack of access to preventive care, and high poverty rates while studies also show racial bias plays a role. 

The US government says the infant mortality rate is almost twice as high for African-American babies as for their white counterparts.

"We have a system of care that is very inequitable. If you're low income, if you're of colour, if you're uninsured you are likely going to have a different level of care which results in these poor outcomes," Jennie Joseph from Commonsense Childbirth.

The Centers for Disease Control says African-American mothers are twice as likely as white women to receive late or no prenatal care. 

TRT World's Steve Mort reports.

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