Calendar photo caption: Students at St. Columbanus School on the South Side of Chicago await a visit from president-elect Barack Obama on November 26, 2008. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)
During the era of enslavement in America, Black infants died at a staggeringly high rate.
Pregnant enslaved women were constantly overworked, denied an adequate diet, and deprived of health care, severely endangering the health of their children.
The majority of enslaved newborns weighed less than 5.5 pounds, and a significant percentage were born prematurely or were stillborn. The risk to babies was most acute during the preparation and planting season, when enslavers' demands on laborers peaked.
The traumatic strain of enslavement, especially the ever-present fear of being sold, contributed to difficult conditions for birth. And postnatal practices also contributed to high infant mortality. New mothers were forced to resume strenuous work shortly after giving birth.
As a result, nearly half of all enslaved infants in the South died within the first year of life. Infant mortality among the enslaved population was twice the rate of white infants.
Infant mortality rates in the U.S. have fallen greatly since the 19th century for all demographic groups. But substantial disparities persist.
A 2022 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the infant mortality rate is 2.4 times higher for Black infants than for white infants.
Unequal medical insurance coverage, underfunding of hospitals, and racial bias in medical research and treatment are among the factors that contribute to this continued disparity.
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