(CNN) A new study suggests that black and Hispanic premature babies, compared with white premature babies, had a two- to four-fold increased risk of four severe neonatal health problems. Hispanic infants had a borderline increased risk of necrotizing enterocolitis and intraventricular hemorrhage, and Asian infants had an increased risk of retinopathy, the researchers found. So the health disparity seen among premature babies could be related to health disparities seen among pregnant women as well. For instance, a previous paper published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology in 1996 came to that conclusion among infants delivered at Chicago-area hospitals, suggesting that black infants born preterm fared better than white infants born preterm. "One could be on the health care side, in other words, what the physicians and nurses do.

Source: CNN September 10, 2018 15:00 UTC