TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Researchers say gender and race may play a role in the survival of very premature infants.
A University of Florida study found that black infant girls born weighing 2.2 pounds or less are more than twice as likely to survive as white baby boys born at the same weight.
The findings, released Tuesday in the journal Pediatrics, offer the
first scientific evidence of a phenomenon doctors have observed for years, according to lead author Steven B. Morse, M.D.
Baby girls of both races had the strongest advantage when born weighing less than 1,000 grams, about 2 pounds. Girls had nearly twice the odds of surviving as baby boys did, and black infants also had a slight survival advantage over whites.
Overall, black baby girls were twice as likely to survive compared with white baby boys, 1.8 times more likely to survive than black boys and 1.3 times more likely to live than white baby girls.
Morse said there isn't conclusive evidence yet to explain why girls and black infants have better chances of survival, but female preemies' lungs tend to be more developed at birth, which could be part of the explanation, he said.
