Babies Conceived Via Fertility Treatments Born To Black Mothers Are 4 Times More Likely To Die As Newborns

Babies Conceived Via Fertility Treatments Born To Black Mothers Are 4 Times More Likely To Die As Newborns

Babies born to Black mothers who were conceived by fertility technologies are twice as likely to die in the first month than infants born to white women.

According to a study published in the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Pediatrics journal, researchers analyzed data for all U.S. births involving single babies (not twins) from 2016 to 2017 — more than 7.5 million births. Of those, more than 93,000 children were conceived through medically assisted reproduction, such as IVF.

The findings show that death rates were four times higher among newborns up to 28 days old who were born to Black mothers who underwent assisted reproductive technology (ART) such as IVF. That death rate was 1.6% among babies born to Black mothers, compared with just 0.3% for babies born to white mothers.

The study also found,

“Racial and ethnic disparities between Hispanic versus non-Hispanic White women were also significantly larger among women who conceived using [medically assisted reproduction] with regard to preterm birth (<34 weeks) and perinatal mortality.”

The study’s lead author, Dr. Sarka Lisonkova– an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of British Columbia– said most infant deaths happen

“within the first day because something has gone wrong either with pregnancy or childbirth or the baby was not developing well in utero.”

Dr. Sarka Lisonkova found the study results surprising because her team initially thought women who could afford IVF would have access to high-quality health care during pregnancy, regardless of race. In their opinion, such medical attention and quality care might lead to lower rates of infant death.

On the other hand, Dr. Madeline Sutton– an OB-GYN in Atlanta who wasn’t involved in the research–says structural racism also affects women of color who use reproductive technologies. For example, black women are often refused extra tests/treatments, referred less frequently to specialists, and have to deal with their health concerns being dismissed.

Dr. Sutton said:

“Once that pregnancy happens, the women are in the same system that has all those things that we haven’t yet fully accounted for — the systemic biases, the racism, the differences in treatments based on what type of insurance someone might have.”

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