Rita Beam was a young nurse working in the mother-baby unit at Denver's Rose Medical Center three decades ago when she noticed a disturbing disparity, which would forever define her career.

An unusually high number of African-American babies were being born premature, underweight or both, and not surviving.

鈥淚 asked myself, 鈥榃hy haven鈥檛 I read about this?鈥� You didn鈥檛 hear about it. No one was paying attention,鈥� she said.

Beam noticed something else. These high-risk babies were being born to black women regardless of how much money they made, or their level of education. Beam started digging into the healthy baby gap, and she鈥檚 been dedicated to solving the mystery ever since.

Over the last two decades, research has confirmed that African-American babies die at two or three times the rate of other infants. But still, no one knows why.

The latest Colorado numbers from the Centers for Disease Control show that in 2007, the black infant mortality rate was 13.5 out of every 1000 live births, compared to 5.2 for whites and 7 for Hispanics.

Colorado鈥檚 numbers closely follow the national statistics, which are not good even for white babies. The United States ranks 29th worldwide in infant mortality despite its vaunted health care system.

The striking racial difference has so alarmed the Centers for Disease Control that neonatal specialists there have made the issue a number one priority.

鈥淲e need to solve this problem,鈥� said the CDC鈥檚 Director of Maternal and Infant Health Dr. Bill Callaghan. 鈥淵ou know when you wake up at night and your head starts to zoom? That鈥檚 what I think about.鈥�

It鈥檚 not the usual suspects of tobacco and alcohol. Colorado black women smoke and drink less in pregnancy than their counterparts. Colorado black pregnant women do report more stress and more infections.

鈥淧eople have proposed the answer lies in differences in African-American biology. They鈥檝e proposed differences in culture between blacks and whites in America, and they鈥檝e proposed the stress of what it鈥檚 like to be black in America. But at the end of the day, we don鈥檛 have a satisfactory answer as to why this is happening,鈥� said Callaghan.

Dr. James Collins, a neonatologist at Northwestern University just outside of Chicago, has studied the disparity for 15 years.

鈥淲hen Africans first come to the United States, they have the same infant mortality rate as whites. But the next generation has the same rate of premature babies as American blacks,鈥� Collins said.

He has concluded: 鈥淭he difference is the racism blacks experience in this country.鈥�

鈥淭his means being treated differently when you鈥檙e getting a cab, when you鈥檙e in an elevator, by strangers, and even colleagues at work,鈥� even if you are educated and higher income, he said.

Collins theorizes that a lifetime of this stress can decrease the immune system and trigger pre-term labor.

Collins鈥� advice includes undoing racism, improving health care for black women before pregnancy, and getting black fathers more involved.

Candice and Randy Reese are a classic middle-class, suburban couple in Brighton. She鈥檚 a principal at the elementary school she once attended in Denver, and he鈥檚 a project manager for a utility company.

When they learned their first child was coming, they were ecstatic. They had met at a family barbecue, married, and within two years, Candice was pregnant.

鈥淐andice did everything she was supposed to do. She took her prenatal vitamins, she ate right and we made every doctor鈥檚 appointment,鈥� Randy said.

But the pregnancy did not go well.  Candice went into labor three months early, and gave birth to a 1.11-pound baby girl.

She lived for eight days. The Reeses were grief-stricken. Making it worse, they didn鈥檛 understand why their baby had been born so early.

Sitting close together on the family room couch recently, they recalled their first-born.

鈥淲e named her Nevaeh,鈥� said Candice. Nevaeh is 鈥渉eaven鈥� spelled backwards.  Her middle name was LaJoy. 鈥淩andy came up with that. Heavenly Joy. I can鈥檛 imagine a more beautiful name!鈥�

 鈥淪he was so small, she looked just like a little doll. She had your beautiful skin color,鈥� Randy said to Candice.

She smiled. Looking at his face, she said, 鈥淪he had your nose.鈥�

These days, the Reese family room is alive with the sound of their two little girls. Eight-year-old Erica, who was adopted, and seven-year-old Alicia, born after Nevaeh, are singing a song about spiders.

鈥淚f my sister was alive she would be nine. She was so tiny! But she鈥檚 my big sister,鈥� said Alicia. Their middle names are Nevaeh LaJoy, 鈥�...so that Nevaeh is still part of them,鈥� Randy said.  鈥淣ever to forget.鈥�

When Nevaeh died, the Reeses did not know that there were many other African-American families experiencing the same loss.  But since then, they have learned more.

Randy believes that Collins鈥� work is on the right track. 鈥淏eing treated differently because of race is obviously an issue in my mind.  Candice wasn鈥檛 a single mom who couldn鈥檛 afford health care.  We鈥檙e African-American professionals living in the 鈥榖urbs!  But stress from intolerance is definitely an issue.  When you鈥檙e African-American you constantly have to justify your position.鈥�

But Candice is not so sure.  鈥淚 grew up in Montbello surrounded by people who look like me. I鈥檇 still like to see more research. There鈥檚 a reason this is happening.鈥�

Beam has continued her drive to solve the problem by helping to form , which provides help before and after birth. The  provides similar services statewide.

Advice for would-be mothers:

• Plan the pregnancy, get healthy, take vitamins, quit smoking and drinking.
• Get pre-natal care
• Breastfeed.
  Source: Tri-County Health Department nurse Rita Beam

Three top causes of infant death:

• Birth defects
• Premature birth/low birth weight
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (sudden death of undetermined cause)