The study found that the racial disparities in maternal and fetal health outcomes was significantly greater in counties that had higher levels of racial prejudice, with white mothers actually having low rates of adverse health outcomes in these counties. The disparity is 26 percent larger in counties with higher levels of racial prejudice compared to lower ones. 

Result Obtained by the Study Regarding Racial Prejudice Correlating with Larger Racial Disparities in Maternal and Fetal Health Outcomes

To measure the racial prejudice in the county the mothers are located in, the study used counties with high rates of racial prejudice to help determine a correlation with negative birth outcomes. 


Syracuse University

There are large racial disparities in health outcomes between Black and white mothers. Black mothers are more likely to have low-birth weights and give birth early. The study wanted to understand if racial prejudice causes these disparities.

Community-Level Racial Prejudice Impact on Racial Maternal and Fetal Heath Disparities

Orchard, Jacob, and Joseph Price. “County-Level Racial Prejudice and the Black-White Gap in Infant Health Outcomes.” Social Science &amp; Medicine, vol. 181, 2017, pp. 191–198., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.03.036. 

The study used this data of infant health outcomes which include maternal characteristic for over 30 million births occurring in the U.S. in this time period. This also provides which county the mother is located in. The two particular extracted included preterm birth and low birthweight.

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