Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced he's creating a task force to address racial differences in infant mortality.

The Ohio Department of Health released the 2019 infant mortality report showing the death rate is at 7-percent for all races, but for Black infants, it's more than double. 

Mahoning County is one of the top nine counties in the state with the highest rate of race disparity in infant mortality, according to the ODH report. 

Nurse Practioner Carol Holmes of Youngstown Associated Women's Health said it's an issue that can only be changed by having honest conversations.

"Some people don't want that conversation to take place but that conversation has to because we're not doing any better," Holmes said. 

She said the three main barriers causing African American infant deaths are lack of transportation, lack of education and systemic racism. 

She said it was just recently, she witnessed another women lose her baby because of these barriers. 

"I saw her and she was at six months and was like 'Well my baby hasn't moved since 16 hours or so,' and I said 'No... you should count your baby movements.' She said, 'Well no one ever told me that,' and unfortunately, she ended up having a stillborn."

She said it boils down to systemic racism and feels community leaders along with healthcare workers need to discuss these issues without taking it personally and accept the reality. 

"People bring their bias sometimes into the treatment of certain people," she said, "...and no one wants to talk about it."

She believes this is not an issue with only low-income African American women and has seen it happen on all levels of socioeconomic status. 

She advises women to write down all questions they have when going to doctor's appointments and urges women to seek immediate help if they feel anything is wrong. 

"As an African American Nurse Practitioner, I feel responsible. I feel like I have a responsibility to the community."

She reminds women that Youngstown Associated Women's Care on Fifth Avenue accepts all patients without an appointment.