Research has that Black newborns are more than twice as likely to die than white newborns, but a new study finds outcomes can vary greatly depending on the race of their pediatricians.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 quite striking is that when Black newborns are treated by Black physicians, by Black pediatricians, that [death rate] is cut in half,鈥� said Brad Greenwood, a George Mason University associate professor and one of the study’s co-authors.
The study also found that a doctor’s race had no effect on the mortality rates of white newborns.
“That’s relatively striking,” Greenwood said.
The are based on 1.8 million hospital births in Florida between 1992 and 2015.
Greenwood said that there are many potential contributing factors to the trend, and he cautioned against assuming that the findings in any way demonize physicians.
鈥淭he goal here is to point out a systemic inequality, which is happening, to try to figure it out,鈥� he said. 鈥淕etting at the underlying reasons is what鈥檚 really important here.鈥�
Among many potential factors, Black newborns might be more medically challenging to treat “due to a host of social risk factors and cumulative racial and socio-economic disadvantages that their mothers might be facing,” Greenwood said. “So, it might be that Black physicians are more aware and attuned of these differences and can act on them more quickly.”
There is also evidence that 鈥渞acial concordance鈥� (having a shared identity with your doctor) increases trust and communication and a mom鈥檚 willingness to share her concerns.
鈥淲hile we observe this relatively robust difference, speculating as to exactly why 鈥� we can鈥檛 do. It鈥檚 likely a mix of many, many things,鈥� Greenwood said. 鈥淲hat we want to make sure happens is that we are getting into hospitals and figuring out why it鈥檚 happening and, at the same time, address some of the systemic inequalities that exist in the medical system.鈥�
He added, 鈥淚 think this really calls for additional work to get into locations which are high performing and locations which are lower performing to figure out exactly why this is going on.鈥�
Black people make up 13% of the U.S. population, but only 5% of physicians.
The study was published Aug. 17 in the .
