Milwaukee’s Infant Mortality Rate Drops, But Racial Disparities Remain

New data shows last year 88 infants in Milwaukee died before they turned one, compared to 95 in 2015. Last year’s deaths still outpaced the 84 the city saw in 2014.

Nicole Angresano, with the United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County, said the decline in deaths represents a positive trend.

“None of us think that the decrease is happening fast enough,” she said. “But there are some strategies in place that are going to bear long-term positive outcomes.”

She said some of those strategies are making sure women have access to prenatal health care and reducing unintended pregnancies.

The city’s health commissioner, Bevan Baker, said they must refocus their efforts to tackle premature births, the leading cause of infant mortality.

The city’s infant mortality rate dropped from 9.6 deaths for every 1,000 births in 2015 to 9.1 deaths in 2016. Still, African-American babies died at nearly twice the rate of white babies. The infant mortality rate for black babies was 14 per every 1,000 births compared to 7.2 for whites.

Angresano said the disparity persists across socio-economic lines.

“African-American women that don’t live under the poverty level, African-American women who are middle class, even upper class, still have worse birth outcomes than white women,” she said. “I think we need to make sure that we talk about that.”

She said it’s important to look at other stress factors that impact African-American life.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said in a statement the racial disparity in birth outcomes remains unacceptably high, especially when many causes are preventable.