Word: birthweight
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...home births is at least twice the national average, due both to Oregon's culturally liberal leanings as well as its wide rural stretches, which can make hospitals hard to reach. (From 1998 to 2003, parts of the state also had higher than average rates of premature and low-birthweight babies, leading some critics to conclude that midwifery was partly to blame.) Cheyney and doctoral student Courtney Everson examined one county's birth records from the entirety of that period and found that in that area at least, there was not any increased mortality risk associated with low-risk home...
...news is good. The rates of infant mortality and low-birthweight babies both ticked up, a bad-health bellwether that always catches the eye of epidemiologists. "As a pediatrician, I can tell you that this is a major cause of concern," says Alexander. It's possible that the reason is merely better prenatal care that's enabling more sickly babies to survive through birth but not a great deal longer...
SMOKING MOMS Pregnant teens are smoking more than they were five years ago, despite reductions in all other age groups. Among expectant 18- and 19-year-olds, a disturbing 1 in 5 smokes. They appear either unaware of or unconcerned by possible links to low birthweight, retardation and behavioral problems in their unborn child's later life...