“Unnatural Causes” is a four part documentary that examines inequality in wealth, geography, race and other social differences that may have some causal relationship to poor health. One part of the documentary focuses on Black women having premature babies at a rate that is twice that of White women. They study noted that since the normal factors that lessen the likelihood of premature babies (mom in great health, high quality of life, wealth, etc.) don’t decrease the numbers much for Black women, race must be a factor. They essentially concluded that the racist treatment of Black women puts stress on our auto immune system, which increases our chance for having premature babies. Not sure if they said it that plainly, but I will. The documentary will be on PBS this week…check local listings or times or go to www.pbs.org. Also, check out the documentary website at www.unnaturalcauses.org.
