Black mothers were 60.2 percent more likely to experience a preterm birth and twice as likely to experience low birth weight compared to white mothers. Black mothers were also younger, had lower levels of education, and half as likely to have a committed partner. 

Result Obtained by the Study Regarding Maternal Characteristics

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.

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. 

Vital Statistics Nationality Birth Data (2002-2012)

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. 


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