Wisconsin has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the country when it comes to African American babies. WUWM’s LaToya Dennis has more.
The disparity in death rates between African American infants and white babies in Wisconsin has gotten worse over the years. According to a report the Department of Health Services released this week, 15 out of every 1,000 black infants die before their first birthday. That’s nearly triple the mortality rate among white infants. Trina Salm Ward is with the UW-Milwaukee Center for Urban Population Health. She says there are theories on why, including whether fathers are around to help out.
“The father status, whether or not they’re able to be identified and how involved they are,” Salm Ward says.
Salm Ward says ultimately it’s about having a good support system in place. She also says it’s important to educate pregnant women on the dangers of drugs and alcohol, without judging.
“You also have to look at that in the context of neighborhoods and poverty and where people have a lot of difficult issues that they’re trying to deal with and sometimes smoking and alcohol may be their way to handle problems that they’re not able to address in other ways,” Salm Ward says.
Karen Timberlake agrees that education is key. She’s with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
“We know that safe sleeping habits are really important in the African American community. We know research is showing us that a number of infant deaths are caused by unsafe sleep practices, and so we need to be working on better community education, really reaching those new moms to help them understand how to care for their babies safely,” Timberlake says.
Studies have shown babies are less likely to die suddenly while sleeping if they sleep on their backs with a firm mattress. In 2007, the problem of infant mortality among black babies was most dire in Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha and Rock counties. While the city of Milwaukee had the highest number of incidents, Racine saw the largest percentage. Timberlake says experts are looking closely at Dane County because it’s been able to close the gap between black and white infant mortality rates.
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