Babies born to Black mothers who use fertility treatments die at far higher rates than those born to white mothers

By Aria Bendix. NBC News

Babies born to Black mothers are twice as likely to die in the first month than infants born to white women.

But the disparity is even wider among infants conceived through fertility technologies like in vitro fertilization, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Pediatrics.

The 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 showed that death rates were four times higher among newborns up to 28 days old who were born to Black mothers who used fertility technologies involving eggs or embryos. That death rate was 1.6% among babies born to Black mothers, compared with just 0.3% for babies born to white mothers.

Death rates were twice as high among newborns of Asian, Pacific Islander and Hispanic mothers who used fertility technologies compared with babies born to white mothers.

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