Skip to main content
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 1993 Jan;83(1):9–12. doi: 10.2105/ajph.83.1.9

Class, race, and infant mortality in the United States.

C J Hogue 1, M A Hargraves 1
PMCID: PMC1694522  PMID: 8417615

Abstract

As a result of Sweden's efforts to eliminate poverty and to provide comprehensive health care, there are only small social class differences in infant mortality. The wider social differences in US infant mortality are a consequence of less consistent and thorough attempts at social equity and universal health care. US Black infant mortality continues to be twice that of Whites, and the excess may partially result from racism. Public health research should examine the role of racism in infant mortality and develop interventions to eliminate racism and its effects on the health of Black Americans.

Full text

PDF
9

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Buekens P., Kotelchuck M., Blondel B., Kristensen F. B., Chen J. H., Masuy-Stroobant G. A comparison of prenatal care use in the United States and Europe. Am J Public Health. 1993 Jan;83(1):31–36. doi: 10.2105/ajph.83.1.31. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Diderichsen F. Health and social inequities in Sweden. Soc Sci Med. 1990;31(3):359–367. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(90)90283-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Ericson A., Eriksson M., Källén B., Zetterström R. Socio-economic variables and pregnancy outcome. 2. Infant and child survival. Acta Paediatr Scand. 1990 Nov;79(11):1009–1016. doi: 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1990.tb11376.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Hjalmarson A. I., Hahn L., Svanberg B. Stopping smoking in pregnancy: effect of a self-help manual in controlled trial. Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 1991 Mar;98(3):260–264. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1991.tb13390.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Hogue C. J., Buehler J. W., Strauss L. T., Smith J. C. Overview of the National Infant Mortality Surveillance (NIMS) project--design, methods, results. Public Health Rep. 1987 Mar-Apr;102(2):126–138. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Högberg U., Wall S., Wiklund D. E. Perinatal mortality in a Swedish county 1980-1984. Mortality pattern and its amenability. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 1990;69(7-8):567–573. doi: 10.3109/00016349009028698. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Kempe A., Wise P. H., Barkan S. E., Sappenfield W. M., Sachs B., Gortmaker S. L., Sobol A. M., First L. R., Pursley D., Rinehart H. Clinical determinants of the racial disparity in very low birth weight. N Engl J Med. 1992 Oct 1;327(14):969–973. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199210013271401. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kessel S. S., Kleinman J. C., Koontz A. M., Hogue C. J., Berendes H. W. Racial differences in pregnancy outcomes. Clin Perinatol. 1988 Dec;15(4):745–754. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Köhler L. Infant mortality: the Swedish experience. Annu Rev Public Health. 1991;12:177–193. doi: 10.1146/annurev.pu.12.050191.001141. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Miller J. E. Birth intervals and perinatal health: an investigation of three hypotheses. Fam Plann Perspect. 1991 Mar-Apr;23(2):62–70. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Nordström M. L., Cnattingius S., Haglund B. Social differences in Swedish infant mortality by cause of death, 1983 to 1986. Am J Public Health. 1993 Jan;83(1):26–30. doi: 10.2105/ajph.83.1.26. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Polednak A. P. Black-white differences in infant mortality in 38 standard metropolitan statistical areas. Am J Public Health. 1991 Nov;81(11):1480–1482. doi: 10.2105/ajph.81.11.1480. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Schoendorf K. C., Hogue C. J., Kleinman J. C., Rowley D. Mortality among infants of black as compared with white college-educated parents. N Engl J Med. 1992 Jun 4;326(23):1522–1526. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199206043262303. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES