Minnesota infant deaths show racial gap

Unusually high rates of infant deaths among certain minority groups in Minnesota have state health officials searching for ways to better support mothers before, during and after their pregnancies.

A Minnesota Department of Health report released Thursday revealed that babies born to black mothers are more than twice as likely to die in infancy as babies born to white mothers — giving Minnesota one of the widest infant mortality gaps in the nation.

But it also found that the problem isn’t just social disadvantage: The death rate is lower for infants of Hispanic or African-born black mothers than for those of U.S.-born black mothers, despite the fact that all of these minority groups suffer higher rates of poverty and other social ills associated with poor child health.

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