During my research for this paper, I determined that there is a high infant mortality rate among African-American women in the United States. According to a National Vital Statistics Report, United States is ranked the highest among all countries in the world for infant mortality rate (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2014). Statistics have also shown that infant mortality rate is the highest among African-Americans both statewide and nationwide and also including Franklin County, where I currently reside. I wanted to further explore the possibilities of why these numbers are much higher for the African-American woman.
Many factors can contribute to these mortality rates, which could include late prenatal care, increased poverty level, and lack of knowledge. Within my county, an extremely high percentage of mothers did not receive prenatal care during their first trimester of pregnancy. According to a study done by Hauck, Tanabe, and Moon (2011), the three leading causes of infant mortality are contributed to a short gestational age and low birth weight, congenital malformations, and maternal complications related to pregnancy. African-American women are twice as likely to deliver premature infants, increasing the risk of infant deaths due to low birth rate. Another study also confirmed that African-American women had the highest level among all ethnic groups for delivering a preterm infant with increased mortality (MacDorman & Mathews, 2011). Public health
Many factors can contribute to these mortality rates, which could include late prenatal care, increased poverty level, and lack of knowledge. Within my county, an extremely high percentage of mothers did not receive prenatal care during their first trimester of pregnancy. According to a study done by Hauck, Tanabe, and Moon (2011), the three leading causes of infant mortality are contributed to a short gestational age and low birth weight, congenital malformations, and maternal complications related to pregnancy. African-American women are twice as likely to deliver premature infants, increasing the risk of infant deaths due to low birth rate. Another study also confirmed that African-American women had the highest level among all ethnic groups for delivering a preterm infant with increased mortality (MacDorman & Mathews, 2011). Public health