Prenatal Care and Infant Mortality in Nevada

The U.S. outspends all other industrial countries on health care, and yet Americans hardly enjoy better health (Gorman 2010). An American baby born in 2006 can expect to live 78 years – two years less than a baby born across the Canadian border. The U.S. ranks 28th in infant mortality out of the 30 major industrial countries (Gorman 2010). A large part of the gap in infant mortality can be traced to high infant death rates in certain populations, particularly African-Americans who make up about 13% of the total population. In 2005, infant mortality for non-Hispanic blacks in the U.S. ran to 13.6 deaths per 1,000 live births compared with 5.76 deaths per 1,000 live births for non-Hispanic whites. Such disparities reflect differences in education, environment, and socioeconomic status – factors notoriously difficult to mitigate (Gorman, 2010, p. 34)