THE RIGHT START FOR AMERICA’S NEWBORNS

A DECADE OF CITY AND STATE TRENDS (1990-1999)

Conditions surrounding a child’s birth often reflect the forces that will

shape a young person’s life. Whether an expectant mother smokes, whether

she receives prenatal care, how much education a new mother has, and her

age when she gives birth are valuable predictors of the resources that are

likely to be available to a child. Uses birth certificate data provided by the National Center for Health

Statistics, to focus on eight measures which reflect a healthy start to life.

Measures are provided for the country as a whole, for all 50 states

and the District of Columbia, and for the 50 largest cities and include teen births, births to unmarried mothers and births to mothers with low education attainment.

That measures include teen births, late or no prenatal care and preterm births