Infant mortality reflects the overall health status of a population and indirectly is a measure of the effectiveness and availability of quality health care, particularly prenatal care.

Infant mortality was highest in Monroe County among African Americans, with 17 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2017-19. This was double the rate for Hispanics of 8 and four times the rate for whites of 4 deaths per 1,000 births. This was higher than the rates at the state.

Racial disparities in infant mortality emerge from systems that perpetuate structural racism. Higher death rates among infants of color are directly tied to maternal access to prenatal care throughout pregnancy and quality of care. Research has shown that mothers of color are less likely to receive prenatal care in part because they tend to live in communities with fewer health care providers including neonatal services. While women of color from under-resourced communities gain access to health care via Medicaid, they are often underinsured. Discriminatory treatment by health care providers influences whether the health care needs of women of color are adequately addressed, putting mothers and their infants at higher risk of mortality. The racism experienced by expectant mothers of color in their everyday lives at work and in their neighborhoods (e.g. food insecurity, environmental toxins) place mothers and their infants at higher risk of premature death. The overall health of expectant mothers color and access to comprehensive health care including gynecological services before pregnancy also contributes to premature infant death.

Rates are averaged over three years because some geographies or groups have small numbers, making it difficult to distinguish true changes from random fluctuations. Some rates are unstable to due to fewer than 10 events in the numerator.