A new study published in the Journal of Perinatology reveals stark racial disparities in the diagnosis, severity, and treatment of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a serious brain injury caused by oxygen deprivation at birth. Analyzing data from over 31 million births between 2010 and 2018, researchers found that African American newborns were 60% more likely to develop HIE than white infants and twice as likely to experience severe forms of the condition.
The disparities didn’t stop at diagnosis. African American infants with HIE had significantly higher overall mortality rates, with an adjusted odds ratio of 2.14. However, when comparing only infants already diagnosed with HIE, mortality rates between Black and white babies were similar.
The study also found that Native American infants were significantly less likely to receive hypothermia therapy, the standard treatment for HIE. Their odds of receiving this potentially life-saving intervention were less than half that of white infants.
“Racial disparity exists in the prevalence, severity, and management of HIE,” the authors concluded. These findings underscore the urgent need for equitable access to neonatal care and interventions that can reduce long-term disability or death.
The research highlights how systemic inequities in healthcare continue to affect the most vulnerable—newborns—at the very start of life.
See: “Racial disparities and outcomes in neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy” (June 21, 2025)
