Memphis' infant mortality rate highest among US cities
Issue date: 11/28/06 Section: The Game of Life
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People don't usually think of Memphis when they hear the term "third world."
Most probably think of far away places where children are starving and people drink from the same river they bathe in.
But most people probably don't know that in 2002, when the statistics were last made available, 31 babies out of 1,000 didn't see their first birthday in the 38108 ZIP code alone.
An infant mortality rate like that competes with countries such as Syria, Nicaragua and Vietnam.
More than 200 babies died within their first year here in 2002, ranking Memphis No. 1 out of the country's 60 largest cities for infant mortality.
Out past Wolf Chase Galleria lies the Shelby County Cemetery - an area no bigger than three football fields wedged between two newly constructed neighborhoods on Ellis Road, full of homes that sell for no less than $200,000. This is where many babies from poor families who can't afford a private grave site are laid to rest.
The fields are mostly grass, except where recent graves have been dug. The grass hasn't grown back in those places yet, so the ground is just red clay.
And unlike the private cemetery across the street, where engraved headstones mark final resting places, only numbers on shiny metal disks pinned to the ground by stakes mark the graves at the Shelby County Cemetery. The disks are so close together, it's hard to tell exactly which marker the bouquets, toys or framed letters from parents are for.
Most of the babies buried at the public cemetery come from poor black neighborhoods because, in this city, black babies die almost three times as often as white babies.
The numbers are a testament to the health disparities of Memphis.
Although there are many sources of infant mortality, preterm delivery and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) are two of the leading causes of infant deaths.
But these causes can often be averted if mothers simply know how to properly care for their babies before birth, as well as after.
Most probably think of far away places where children are starving and people drink from the same river they bathe in.
But most people probably don't know that in 2002, when the statistics were last made available, 31 babies out of 1,000 didn't see their first birthday in the 38108 ZIP code alone.
An infant mortality rate like that competes with countries such as Syria, Nicaragua and Vietnam.
More than 200 babies died within their first year here in 2002, ranking Memphis No. 1 out of the country's 60 largest cities for infant mortality.
Out past Wolf Chase Galleria lies the Shelby County Cemetery - an area no bigger than three football fields wedged between two newly constructed neighborhoods on Ellis Road, full of homes that sell for no less than $200,000. This is where many babies from poor families who can't afford a private grave site are laid to rest.
The fields are mostly grass, except where recent graves have been dug. The grass hasn't grown back in those places yet, so the ground is just red clay.
And unlike the private cemetery across the street, where engraved headstones mark final resting places, only numbers on shiny metal disks pinned to the ground by stakes mark the graves at the Shelby County Cemetery. The disks are so close together, it's hard to tell exactly which marker the bouquets, toys or framed letters from parents are for.
Most of the babies buried at the public cemetery come from poor black neighborhoods because, in this city, black babies die almost three times as often as white babies.
The numbers are a testament to the health disparities of Memphis.
Although there are many sources of infant mortality, preterm delivery and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) are two of the leading causes of infant deaths.
But these causes can often be averted if mothers simply know how to properly care for their babies before birth, as well as after.