Infant Mortality and African Americans

What is Infant Mortality?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), infant mortality is the death of an infant before his or her first birthday. The infant mortality rate is the number of infant deaths for every 1,000 live births. In addition to giving us key information about maternal and infant health, the infant mortality rate is an important marker of the overall health of a society.

How Does Infant Mortality Affect African American Populations?

  • Non-Hispanic blacks/African Americans have 2.4 times the infant mortality rate as non-Hispanic whites.
  • Non-Hispanic black/African American infants are almost four times as likely to die from complications related to low birthweight as compared to non-Hispanic white infants.
  • Non-Hispanic black/African American infants had 2.9 times the sudden infant death syndrome mortality rate as non-Hispanic whites, in 2020.
  • In 2020, non-Hispanic black/African American mothers were twice as likely to receive late or no prenatal care as compared to non-Hispanic white mothers.

Infant Mortality Rate

Non-Hispanic BlackNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
10.44.42.4

Source: CDC 2022. Infant Mortality Statistics from the 2020 Period Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set. National Vital Statistics Reports. Table 2.
https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/120700

Leading Causes of Infant Mortality

Infant deaths and mortality rates for the top 5 leading causes of death for African Americans, 2020 (Rates per 100,000 live births)

Cause of Death
(By rank)
# Non-Hispanic Black DeathsNon-Hispanic Black Death Rate# Non-Hispanic White DeathsNon-Hispanic White Death RateNon-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
(1) Low birthweight1,136214.41,04056.43.8
(2) Congenital malformations705133.11, 976107.21.2
(3) Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)47289.156330.52.9
(4) Accidents (unintentional injuries)37570.854729.72.3
(5) Maternal Complications33763.637020.13.2

Source: CDC 2022. Infant Mortality Statistics from the 2020 Period Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set. National Vital Statistics Reports. Table 2.

https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/120700

Characteristics of Mother

Percentage of mothers who received prenatal care (first trimester), 2020

Non-Hispanic BlackNon-HispanicWhiteNon-HispanicBlack / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
68.482.80.8

Source: CDC 2022. Births: Final Data for 2020 National Vital Statistics Reports. Table 13. https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/112078

Percentage of mothers who received late or no prenatal care, 2020

Non-Hispanic BlackNon-HispanicWhiteNon-Hispanic Black /Non-Hispanic White Ratio
9.14.52.0

Source: CDC 2022. Births: Final Data for 2020 National Vital Statistics Reports. Table 13.
https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/112078

Percentage of mothers who smoked during pregnancy, 2020

Non-Hispanic BlackNon-HispanicWhiteNon-Hispanic Black /Non-Hispanic White Ratio
4.58.10.6

Source: CDC 2022. Births: Final Data for 2020 National Vital Statistics Reports. Table 13.
https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/112078

Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births, 2020

Age of MotherNon-Hispanic BlackNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Black /Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Under 20 years12.48.21.5
20-24 years10.85.61.9
25-29 years10.34.32.4
30-34 years9.83.62.7
35-39 years9.44.02.4
40-54 years11.65.52.1

Source: CDC 2022. Infant mortality in the United States, 2020: Data from the period
linked birth/infant death file. National Vital Statistics Reports. Table 2.
https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/120700