St. Louis’ infant mortality rates are devastating, but what is even more alarming is that black babies in St. Louis are three times more likely to die than white babies. There are significant disparities in the quality and accessibility of health care for black women compared to white women, especially those who live in zip codes characterized by high poverty. Other systemic issues, like unsafe housing, jobs that don’t pay living wage, lack of health food and lack of transportation, add to the challenges these moms face.
FLOURISH is committed to addressing infant mortality through a racial equity approach, and finding solutions to the systemic challenges to improve the health of families. Racial equity is a complex topic, so we participated in an extensive training to better understand how we can provide solutions. Members of our Cabinet and staff are now among more than 550 people in St. Louis to complete the Crossroads Antiracism training, “Understanding and Analyzing Systemic Racism.” This is only the first step as we continue to dive deeper into understanding how racism has created an environment that puts black babies in St. Louis at risk.
If you are interested in learning more about this topic, the following resources provide insights on the topic and can help each of us better understand how race impacts this critical issue in our community.
