High Infant Mortality

In 2009, the infant mortality rates for blacks were 12.4 deaths per 1000 live births making it a drastic difference from the 5.96 deaths per 1000 lives for the whole population (Loggins & Andrade, 2014). The infant mortality rates for whites in 2009 was 5.5 deaths per 1000 live births causing an obvious health disparity in infant mortality amongst blacks and whites (Loggins & Andrade, 2014). There are many determinants factored in that are believed to cause this health issue. Some of these determinants such as, education and income and poverty, seem to affect blacks more than whites because of the urban areas that most blacks live in. Thus, location and other determinants increase infant mortality for blacks and the burden of this health issue.
Each race has different risks when giving birth. For an example, black women have higher risks of preterm delivery than other races (Macdorman & Gregory, 2013). The infant mortality rate for black women was 10.53, which is more than twice the rate than non-Hispanic white women (Macdorman &Gregory, 2013). In a fetal infant mortality rate study it was determined that most of the infants that died were born to young black women (Johnson et al., (2011). Therefore, by being an African American woman you automatically inherit more risks than you would if you were not an African American