The U.S. has the highest infant mortality rate of the world's 23 richest nations, and within the country, black babies die at three times the rate of white babies. On Friday, the 20/20 report "Babyland" focused on Memphis, the city with the highest infant death rate. Dr. Sheldon Korones, seen in the clip above, was spurred by the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. to found a neo-natal unit in Memphis's inner city. He describes the city's high rate of premature births and infant deaths as the result of years of social inadequacies. "There is so much else in that picture, ranging all the way from the proper lifestyle and diet, to the proper education and life itself," he says. "In this community, when a premature baby is born, society has failed."

Tennessee's High Infant Death Rate [ABC]

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