Death rate of black babies stuns Grand Rapids: Black Infants 3x More Likely to Die than Whites

The city's black babies are dying at a rate that is the highest of Michigan's big cities, and three times the rate of the city's white infants. "Grand Rapids has one of the highest infant mortality rates in Michigan, more than Detroit," said Caroline Pyle, executive director the Grand Rapids African American Health Institute. "What is staggering is that in spite of the numbers, there are resources here." In Grand Rapids, the infant mortality rate for 2001-03 was 22.4 for black babies and 7.5 for white babies. It was the highest rate for large Michigan cities, surpassing Detroit, Flint and Muskegon. The Michigan Department of Community Health is focused on black infant death rates because the numbers are so alarming, said Doug Patterson, director of its Bureau of Child and Family Programs. Julie Bonewell, clinical manager of Spectrum Health Healthier Communities, who is collaborating with agencies to work on the problem, said the top three killers of white babies are heart or genetic defects, premature birth, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. For black babies, the order is different: premature birth, followed by heart or genetic defects, then SIDS. [more]