Brooklyn baby deaths double the national average

April 1, 2000
Web posted at: 9:58 p.m. EST (0258 GMT)

In this story: Deaths reveal much about community life Risks remain for surviving babies Black mothers suffer highest child mortality nationally RELATED STORIES, SITES

From Correspondent Frank Buckley

NEW YORK (CNN) -- New York City health experts are alarmed by figures showing that babies are dying in some sections of Brooklyn at a rate double the national average.

	VIDEO
CNN's Frank Buckley takes a look at the efforts of a Brooklyn neighborhood hospital, clinic and New York City's health commissioner to keep mothers in these "at risk" communities healthy and babies alive. Windows Media 28K 80K

The U.S. national infant mortality rate is seven per 1,000 births. New York City's overall rate is at an all-time low, at 6.8 per 1,000.

But in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, the rate is double the national average, at 14 per 1,000, while the Brownsville section suffers 10 deaths per 1,000 births.

Such figures " ... suggests to us we have to do things differently," said Dr. Neal Cohen, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health.

Deaths reveal much about community life

Health experts say infant mortality rates are an indicator of the overall health of a community.

"Wherever you find rising infant mortality rates, it says there's a whole host of problems that need to be addressed," said Ngozi Moses, of the Brooklyn Perinatal Network, a community-based public-private organization.

For example, neighborhoods where infant mortality rates are highest are among New York's poorest.

Drug addiction, AIDS, HIV-positive mothers and immigrants afraid to use the health care system are factors that put babies at risk before and after birth, local health experts say.

Risks remain for surviving babies

Even those that survive the first crucial weeks of life must re-enter the communities where such risk factors remain.

Dr. Myron Sokol of Brookdale University Hospital in Brooklyn, said such a climate frustrates health workers.

"It's sometimes very disappointing for us to have invested so much time, effort in getting a baby really in very excellent condition and then to find out later that the baby was the victim of child abuse or died of an infectious disease or AIDS," he said.

Health workers at the Perinatal Network are trying to reduce the infant mortality rate, but advocates say cuts in federal funding are hurting their efforts.

"We don't have the manpower to reach some of the hardest to reach, the ones that don't want to be found," Moses said. "Those are the ones who are contributing to the statistics."

Black mothers suffer highest child mortality nationally

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in a 1999 study that the highest infant mortality rate nationwide -- 14.1 per 1,000 births -- was among children born to African-American mothers.

The lowest rates were among Asian and Pacific Islander mothers (5.2 per 1,000), followed by whites (6.1) and Native American (10.0).

Rates for infants of Hispanic mothers (6.1) were comparable with those for infants of non-Hispanic white mothers (6.0).

Child mortality rates for Mexican (5.8), Cuban (5.1) and Central and South American (5.0) mothers were slightly lower than the non-Hispanic white mothers and higher for children of Puerto Rican mothers (8.6).

The CDC study also showed that infant mortality rates were higher among: