RACISM TIED TO PRETERM BIRTHS

Number 6 – December 2009

A recent study rates the United States 30th in the incidents of premature births in the industrialized world – behind Poland and just ahead of Slovakia. This finding was reported on NPR’s “All Things Considered “November 4, 1009.

Researchers are working to determine why premature births are a growing problem. “Preterm,” is the word often used in deliveries occurring before 37 weeks. Normal gestation ranges from 37 to 42 weeks.

Ms. Marion MacDorman, of the National Center for Health Statistics, reports one in eight births is preterm. In Ireland and Finland it is one of 18; one out of 16 in Sweden and France. In 1960 the U.S. ranked 12th in the world and now is 30th. In 2002 preterm births in the United States were 10.6 percent increasing to 12.8 by 2005.

Higher preterm rates lead to a higher rate of infant mortality. The rate of infant mortality is an indication of a countries health (or lack of health).

Amelia Gavin, assistant professor of social work at the University of Washington, studies health care disparities. She is concerned about the high rate of preterm births in the United States. Her studies also describe a significant difference between preterm births of black and white women. Her work reveals that 18.1 percent of black women had a preterm delivery as compared to 8.5 percent of white women.

Garvin speculates that the cause of this difference between black and white women is what she calls “weathering,” or accelerated decline in health due to repeated socioeconomic and political factors. She puts it this way: "What some people experience by being black takes a toll on the physiological system, and over time wear and tear that occurs across neural, neuroendocrine and immune systems as a result of chronic exposure to stressors lead to health disparities for blacks. Some of this may manifest in premature birth and low-birth weight".

Dr. Courtney Lynch, Ohio State University, confirms Gavin’s thesis. She reflects on the double rate of African-American women giving birth to preterm infants (18.1%) as compared to white women (8.5%). She concludes that the gap, even when adjusted for income, education, obesity, smoking and disease, can be explained only by one factor: “Race alone remains the distinguishing factor.” Even a black woman who is a physician and well educated has a higher risk of preterm deliveries than the least educated and poorly skilled white women.

Dr. Lynch reports people working in this field have been trying to figure out the cause for the discrepancy between black and white women in preterm deliveries. “But,” she says, “we think that it is something related to the physiologic effects of experiencing lifelong racism.”

Statistics regarding preterm birth rates are intellectually interesting. Such figures, however, should lead the church to a pastoral concern for the anguish and pain caused by preterm deliveries and the consequences of infant deaths. Family dreams are shattered. Even when the child survives, the financial and emotional struggle on families and the parents increase.

Preterm deliveries and the care for such infants create an added burden on the health care system of the nation and on families who have inadequate health care insurance.

This might add to the arguments advocating for a more universal health care policy. It certainly is consistent with the statement made through the Office of the General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada: “We are for affordable, quality health care for all, and a process that gets there now rather than later.”


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Did you know that racism played such a destructive role in preterm deliveries?

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