NC Black babies died at 3 times the rate of white infants in 2023, new report shows
Children are dying in North Carolina at the second-highest rate recorded in over a decade — and Black and American Indian youth are at special risk, according to a new report from the state’s Child Fatality Task Force.
Created in 1991 as part of the statewide Child Fatality Prevention System, the task force meets throughout the year to hear from experts and those with lived experience on safety issues affecting children. It submits an annual report to the General Assembly and the governor with legislative recommendations.
In its report published last month, the task force reported an overall child death rate of 61.5 per 100,000 children in North Carolina for 2023. That was only a slight decrease from the 2022 rate of 63.3, which was the highest death rate for children in the state since 2009.
Overall, 1,436 children 17 or younger died in 2023 in North Carolina.
Death rates were highest for Black and American Indian communities in North Carolina, the report shows.
“In 2023, disparity ratios worsened for infants, with Black infants dying at rates three times higher than white infants,” it states.
Compared to the state’s overall child death rate of 61.5 deaths per 100,000 children, North Carolina’s Black population saw 109.6 child deaths per 100,000 children in 2023, while the American Indian population had 98 deaths per 100,000 children in 2023, according to the report.
At least part of the problem is tied to unsafe sleep habits, the report states.
Black infants are twice as likely to die in unsafe sleep environments as white infants in North Carolina, and at least 29 infants accidentally suffocated or were accidentally strangled in their sleep in 2022, according to the report.
Areas of concern
The report also highlights three key areas of concern in the 2023 child death data:
North Carolina’s infant mortality rates, which are the 10th-highest in the country at 6.9 deaths per 100,000 births.
High rates of firearm deaths among juveniles, part of an overall recent increase in homicides and suicides.
Motor vehicle injuries, which are a leading cause of death for most age groups.
Those and other issues led to 11 legislative recommendations for the General Assembly’s 2025 long session, including:
Raising the legal age to purchase tobacco in North Carolina from 18 to 21.
Legislation to prevent children from accessing cannabis products.
Expanding funding for the early child care system.
Recurring funding for additional school nurses, social workers, counselors and psychologists.
Legislation to address social media’s “addictive algorithms.”
Recurring funding for the NC SAFE campaign, which educates people on safe storage of firearms.
Stronger legislation on safe storage of firearms to keep them from juveniles.
Funding to prevent infant deaths from unsafe sleep behaviors.
Funding for Medicaid reimbursement of doula services. A doula is a trained professional who supports a woman during pregnancy, labor and birth.
Legislation to enable additional Fetal and Infant Mortality Review teams in North Carolina. There is currently one team, which operates in Guilford County.
Stronger legislation on child passenger safety.
The 2025 report wasn’t all negative. It noted fewer in COVID-19 deaths in juveniles, which dropped from 17 in 2022 to three in 2023, and a decrease in death rates for children ages 1-4 after “an unusually high rate” in 2022.
“We hope that for this 2025 long session, we will continue to see great progress with changes in law and funding to protect North Carolina’s children and our state’s future,” the report states.
This story was originally published March 5, 2025 at 8:24 AM.
