Infant mortality rates, defined as the death of a baby before his or her first birthday, have declined 15 percent between 2004 and 2015, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. ( https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/04/health/infant-mortality-by-state-study/index.html) However, that statistic doesn't tell the whole story. The mortality rate of African-American babies remains at least twice that of white babies and overall progress in reducing these rates has stalled. ( https://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2017/07/daily-chart-5)
This racial disparity is evident in Cuyahoga County. According to a recent report, African American infants die at a rate six times higher than white infants. http://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2018/03/black_babies_6_times_more_like.html
David L. Olds, Ph.D.
Founder, Nurse-Family Partnership; Director, Prevention Research Center for Family and Child Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Keith Libman
Past Board Chair, Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation
