Premature birth and death rates of Asian Americans and other babies of color can be blamed in large part on racism, according to officials from the Multnomah County Health Department in Portland, Oregon, reports Oregon Live.
14.2 percent of babies born to white mothers in Multnomah County have poor birth outcomes such as low birth weight, premature births, and other adverse health outcomes.
“We refer to it as toxic stress,” county maternal child health manager Jessica Guernsey said. Toxic stress that she says comes with the daily encounters with racism.
You can read more about the county’s first ever Maternal Child Health Data Book in Oregon Live.
