II.+Racial+&+Socioeconomic+Inequalities

=  Racial & Socioeconomic Inequalities   =


 * Poverty**

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There are two types of poverty: Situational poverty occurs when a family suffers from a negative change in finances, an illness or job loss or another temporary event. Even though this situation is traumatic it will have minimal lasting effects. Generational poverty is a long term struggle when two or more generations in the same family are living in poverty. When pregnant families struggle to meet the basic needs a “culture of poverty” is formed. ======

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the infant mortality rate for babies born to women living in households with incomes below the poverty line is 60% higher than for babies of non-poor woman CDC concluded that poverty raises infant morality rates as much as smoking during pregnancy or inadequate prenatal care.

Dr. Michael Lu, a UCLA Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Public Health conducted a study to challenge the audience to rethink some of the typical assumptions of people and even scientists. African American Woman are three to four more times likely to die in childbirth than white woman. Dr.Lu challenged the assumption that African Descent are genetically at risk for higher infant mortality. The rate of an infant mortality rate amongst foreign-born black women is significantly lower than for aU.S.born Black women. In fact Foreign-born Black women see their rates of infant mortality rise to the same levels as U.S.-born black women within a generation. Dr. Lu, pointed out that stress is a large factor in racial disparities in pregnancy outcomes, and then the question becomes: what large stressor is present in African-American woman that doesn’t exist for white women? Racism. Very low birth weight babies were three times more likely to experience interpersonal racism than woman with children of normal birth weight.
 * Racism**