A new study from George Mason University has found that black newborns in the United States are up to three times more likely to die in the weeks after birth compared to white babies, but their survival odds improve significantly when cared for by black doctors. The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analysed 1.8 million hospital births in Florida between 1992 and 2015.
The study revealed that black babies were three times more likely to die as newborns if cared for by white doctors. When black doctors were in charge, the mortality rate fell by 39 to 58 per cent. The findings suggest that black doctors provide better care for black infants, yet the overwhelming majority of doctors in the US are white, exacerbating the challenge of improving care for black newborns.
In the US, 3.5 out of every 1,000 babies born died within 28 days of birth in 2018. Black families lose their newborn children at far higher rates than white families. The researchers attributed this disparity to higher rates of eclampsia and preeclampsia among black mothers, higher preterm delivery rates, economic disadvantage, and racial bias.
The study found that in hospitals where more black babies were born but the majority of doctors were white, mortality for those babies was 56 per cent higher than in hospitals with more black doctors. The authors noted that while selecting a black physician might seem beneficial, the disproportionately white physician workforce makes this untenable due to the shortage of black doctors.
