Link Between Unarmed Black Shootings and Premature Births

A sociologist at Harvard University, Joscha Legewie, researched and linked the killing of unarmed black people to an increase in local black babies born premature. Legewie states that the police shoot around 100,000 people each year and 1,000 of those die.

By obtaining information about birth records of all living in California from 2007 to 2016 and police killings in California at the same time period, he was able to compare shootings with changes in pregnancy duration for women living in the areas of the shootings. There was a clear correlation between killing of unarmed black people by police and shorter pregnancies of local black women as well as reduced birth weights. It is also noted that there is no correlation between killings of unarmed people of other races and pregnancy duration for women of other races as well.

It is most likely that the shortened pregnancies and lower birth weights are due to the stress pregnant women experience at the time of the shootings in their area since stress can trigger cells in the placenta that respond by producing hormones leading to premature births. Premature births have also been proven to create disabilities and potentially ADHD in babies born early. This shows that the shootings going on are leading to major frustration and stress for local residents. Not only are innocent, unarmed black people being killed, but it is greatly affecting individuals living in the area as well as future babies being born. I hope police officers take this into account in the future in order to protect the residents of towns as well as the future offspring of our generation.


Sources:
https://phys.org/news/2019-12-link-unarmed-black-people-police.html