Dr. Keisha Bentley-Edwards, assistant professor at Duke University’s School of Medicine and expert in health equity, was featured in a Raleigh News & Observer video discussing North Carolina’s alarming infant mortality rates—particularly the disproportionately high death rates among Black infants.
The risk factors for Black women are riskier, Bentley-Edwards said, “and the protective factors are not as protective.”
She noted that education and age—typically considered protective factors in maternal and infant health—do not mitigate risks for Black mothers in the same way they do for white mothers. Black infants born to highly educated mothers still experience higher mortality rates than white infants born to mothers without a high school diploma, illustrating the profound impact of systemic inequity.
