May-June 2007
Guess who's having a baby?
A look at North Carolina's newest moms
Each May, families across the country celebrate Mother's Day. What a perfect time to look at the new moms across North Carolina.
In 2005, the most recent year for which data is available, 123,040 babies were born to women in North Carolina. We looked at The Baby Book, a data set from the N.C. State Center for Health Statistics, and compiled some interesting stats about women who gave birth in 2005.
N.C. moms of 2005:
- 40,978 welcomed their first baby
- 568 had their 8th baby
- Youngest mom was 10 years old
- More women ages 25-29 gave birth than any
other age group
Women during pregnancy:
- 54% gained 20-39 pounds.
- 25% gained 40 pounds or more
- 108,067 did not smoke
- 14,839 smoked
Prenatal care:
- 98% received prenatal care
- 197 began prenatal care in their 9th month
- 994 women had no prenatal care
Babies' delivery:
- Nearly 70% born vaginally, almost 30% by Cesarean-section
- Almost 90% born in a hospital under a physician's care
- Nearly 10% born under the care of a certified nurse midwife
Regardless of how they come into the world, healthy babies begin with healthy women. It is also important for women to seek prenatal care throughout their pregnancy. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Medical Assistance, offers the Baby Love Progam, Medicaid's maternity and child services program for financially-eligible pregnant women, to promote healthy pregnancies and positive birth outcomes.
The North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation offers some tools for you to use with the women you see. The materials encourage all women to take care of their health, for themselves, and for their babies should they become pregnant. Publications include a magazine for women titled Taking Care of Me as well as posters including A Healthy Pregnancy Begins with You.
For more free tools to help educate women about pregnancy, visit the Foundation's catalog and view the Before Pregnancy and Pregnancy pages.
Helpful Links:
N.C.'s Baby Love Program
Taking Care of Me magazine
A Healthy Baby Begins with You poster
Sources:
Click here to
order free educational materials.
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