Health disparities affect health of newborns
Infant
mortality rates are an important measure of a nation's health status. According
to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the national
incidence of pre-term, low birth weight infants has reached its highest level in
25 years. Studies show that this trend is most common among infants born to
African American women, and surprisingly, the racial gap is widest among
college-educated women.
Understanding the cause of these health disparities has
been a major investigational focus for James W. Collins, Jr., MD, MPH, medical director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
at Children's Memorial Hospital and an associate professor of pediatrics at
Northwestern
University's Feinberg
School of Medicine. “Research in this area is essential because pre-term, low
birth weight babies face a myriad of medical complications that can be fatal or
may lead to lifelong health problems,” he notes.
Collins and
his research team are analyzing data on the relationships between birth weight,
poverty and other factors on the reproductive outcome of more than 250,000
African American, Mexican American, and Caucasian women in Illinois. They are developing a life course
conceptual model that depicts how a woman's life experiences taken as a whole
affect both her reproductive outcome and that of her child.
Because of
the serious health implications of racial disparities, organizations such as the
CDC, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services,
March of Dimes and numerous corporate donors have invested considerable
attention and funding to help tackle this national problem. Eliminating health
disparities is one of two goals of Healthy People 2010, a national health
promotion and disease prevention initiative.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), the national incidence of pre-term, low birth weight infants
has reached its highest level in 25 years.
Collins' interest in this field dates back 20 years to his days as a
pediatric resident at Children's Memorial. His research shows that maternal
factors such as young age, low educational attainment and inadequate prenatal
care do not explain the racial disparity in birth outcomes. His team recently
discovered that African American women's exposure to racial discrimination is a
risk factor for pre-term delivery. Their findings highlight the need for future
in-depth studies into psychosocial factors.
Collins is
grateful that vital funding from the March of Dimes, the CDC, an anonymous donor
and the Chicago Community Trust made his research possible. His findings promise
to provide insight into the underlying causes of pre-term and low birth weight
infants in all populations and offer effective interventions that will
ultimately improve health outcomes for all women and their babies.
Children's Memorial Hospital seeks philanthropic funding to enhance its
programs and services. As a proud partner of the Children's Miracle Network
(CMN), all funds raised in the Chicago area through CMN also benefit Children's
Memorial. To find out how your support can help the hospital better serve
children and families, please contact the Children's Memorial Foundation at
773.880.4237 or Foundation@childrensmemorial.org.
Or visit our Web site at www.childrensmemorial.org.