ATLANTA, May 28 (UPI) -- A county in Wisconsin demonstrated that the black infant mortality gap of 3:1 can be eliminated, U.S. health officials said Thursday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report said since 2002, black infant mortality in Dane County, Wis., declined by 67 percent eliminating the 3:1 black-white infant mortality gap that existed during the 1990s.
The black infant mortality gap is still prevalent in most if not all of the United States, the report said.
Dane County's downward trend was driven primarily by a sharp decline in the number of premature births and fetal deaths that occur during the sixth- and seventh-month of pregnancy, the study said.
A collaborative investigation lead by Public Health Madison Dane County and the University of Wisconsin aimed to uncover the causes of the black infant mortality gap via analysis of birth records, pregnancy chart reviews, interviews with new mothers and community asset mapping.
