Birthweight

A baby who is considered to have low birth weight is born weighing less than 5.5 pounds.  A baby with very low birth weight is born weighing less than 3.3 pounds.   Delayed or insufficient prenatal care is a primary predictor of low birth weight. Low birth weight is also associated with mothers who are in either their teens or forties, who have less than a high school education, who are unmarried, who smoke, or who are experiencing stress or abuse.  Infant mortality is strongly associated with low birth weight:  78% of infant deaths are of babies with low birth weight. Very low birth weight and premature babies often die soon after birth:  57% of infant deaths occur in the first week of life and 70% in the first 28 days.

South Carolina’s rate of low birth weight is markedly higher than the national average.   Birth weight has significant economic implications for tax payers.  The low birth weight and very low birth weight newborns discharged from SC hospitals represent only 6.83 % of the newborns discharged but 53.46% of the total charges for newborns.  Of all births in 2008 in Spartanburg County, 43.7% were paid for by Medicaid.

Spartanburg ranked 29th of the state’s 46 counties for low birth weight and 31st for percent of prematurity for the period 2005-2007.  When compared to the state aggregate, the rate of low birth weight and very low birth weight in the county is approximately the same.  Hospital charges for babies born in Spartanburg County, regardless of weight status, is higher than the state average.  A racial disparity in birth weight is evident at the county level and at the state level. 

 

Select Birth Weight Data With State and County Comparison

 

Spartanburg

South Carolina

Babies born with low birth weight, 2007

10%  (N=379)

10.2% (N=6,401)

African-American and Other  / White

13.6%  / 8.7%

14.8%   / 7.6%

Babies born with very low birth weight, 2005-2007

1.8%  (N=195)

2% (N=3,645)

African-American and Other  / White

2.8%  / 1.4%

3.3%  / 1.3%

Average hospitalization charge for low birth weight babies, 2006-2008

$36,196

$25,480

Average hospitalization charge for very low birth weight babies, 2006-2008

$314,306

$183,818

Average hospitalization charge for normal weight babies, 2006-2008

$5,241

$3,948

 

Percentages of babies born with low birth weight and very low birth weight are comparable among peer counties and the state aggregate.  Trends are fairly consistent from 2003 to 2007.

 

Birth Weight By County as Percentage of All Births, Peer Counties

 

Low Birth Weight 2007 {2005}

Very Low Birth Weight 2005-2007 {2003-2005}

 

Total

White

Black / Other

Total

White

Black / Other

Spartanburg

10.0%

{9.9%}

8.7%

{7.7%}

13.6%

{16.0%}

1.8%

{1.8%}

1.4%

{1.4%}

2.8%

{3.0%}

Greenville

8.9%

{8.8%}

7.2%

{7.3%}

14.0%

{13.5%}

1.5%

{1.6%}

1.0%

{1.3%}

3.0%

{2.7%}

Richland

11.1%

{10.3}

6.8%

{7.0%}

14.3%

{12.7%}

2.0%

{2.2%}

1.1%

{1.1%}

2.7%

{3.0%}

Charleston

10.4%

{10.0%}

6.5%

{6.8%}

16.0%

{14.6%}

2.3%

{2.5%}

1.4%

{1.4%}

3.7%

{4.1%}

SC Aggregate

10.2%

{10.2%}

7.6%

{7.7%}

14.8%

{14.7%}

2.0%

{2.1%}

1.3%

{1.4%}

3.3%

{3.4%}