Too Many African-American Babies Born Too Soon

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May 2, 2012

By Lisa Gittens-Williams, M.D., Huffington Post

Nearly one out of every six African-American babies in the United States is born premature. In Newark, New Jersey it’s one in five. I am a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, and every day I see women who are at risk of delivering early.

Preterm birth is a serious and costly health problem, and unfortunately African-American babies have the highest preterm birth rate of any other racial or ethic group. African-American women are more than one and a half times as likely to have a preterm baby compared to white women. The reasons for these differences are still under investigation, and actions to reduce the preterm birth rate in this population are underway.

Read more of the story here.

The statistics continue to be dire for Black mothers and infants.

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