While the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the U.S. in 2020, the nationwide rate of sudden unexplained infant deaths remained steady — except among Black babies, according to a study released Monday.
The CDC released two reports about mortality rates for mothers and babies in America and they include some stark racial divides. New mothers are dying at higher rates than mothers in any other industrialized nation. And while the overall rate of infants dying is at record lows, the deaths of Black infants spiked during the pandemic. William Brangham explores the trends with two of the researchers.
A new study has shown a huge racial difference in infant deaths. Researchers found that babies born to African Americans had the highest rate of sudden unexpected deaths in 2020. The authors concluded that Black infants die nearly three times the rate of white babies.