A not-at-all-cheerful report from the Charlottesville/Albemarle Health Department shows that local African-American babies are much more likely than white babies to die before they reach the age of one. Black children in the Charlottesville area have three to five times the infant mortality rate of whites, says the new research.
NBC 29 quotes Dr. Lilian Peake, health director of the Thomas Jefferson Health District, to the effect that community support for pregnant women is a key factor in protecting the health of their babies, and that a brainstorming session among the two major local hospitals and other social service agencies will happen soon with the hope of improving the numbers.