17 Surprising Facts About Birth in the United States

Last updated: May 2007- www.babycenter.com - by the Baby Center editorial staff  

(Note from Lois: This is a report that I thought you would find interesting as I did.  I was disappointed to see that almost 37 percent of babies were born to unmarried women - found under the heading of "No wedding necessary," which, of course, does not follow biblical principles.  I'm sure you'll learn something new in this article as I did.  For instance, I found "Super Tuesdays" very interesting, since 2 of our 3 children were born on a Tuesday - all by the Lamaze Method of natural childbirth - no C-sections.  You'll see what I'm talking about when you read it!)      

More than 4 million babies are born in the United States each year, and the details of how, when, and where they arrive are always shifting.

The news from the final 2004 report and preliminary 2005 report on births from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is that America continues to boast climbing birth rates, following the baby decline of the 1990s. The U.S. birth rate increased 1 percent from 2004 to 2005, to more than 4.14 million births. Births rose for Hispanic women, American Indian or Alaska Native women, Asian or Pacific Islander women, and non-Hispanic black women but dipped slightly for non-Hispanic white women.

For more fascinating facts about pregnancy, birth, and babies in the United States, read on.

When and where babies arrive:
Super Tuesday: The most popular day for babies to make their entrance? It's still Tuesday, which boasted more than 13,000 births on average in 2004. That's about 16 percent more babies than on any other day of the week. Sunday was the slowest day, with about 7,500 births. Differences in the number of births on various days of the week may be influenced by scheduled labor induction and c-sections, according to the CDC.

Some (babies) like it hot: More newborns arrive during the late summer and early fall months of July, August, and September than during any other time of the year. Paul Sutton, a demographer for the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, says it makes sense if you think about what happens nine months earlier in most of the country — the weather gets colder and people spend more time indoors with their sweeties. Also, some people plan their baby's birth to coincide with summer vacations, especially teachers and other folks who get summers off. July had the most birthdays in 2004 at around 360,000, and February had the fewest at about 315,000.

Go west: As of 2003, the states with the highest birth rates are mostly west of the Mississippi: Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah — with Georgia being the lone high-birth-rate state on the other side of the divide. Utah continues to beat every other state, with about 21 babies born for every 1,000 people. Texas follows next, with nearly 17 births per 1,000 people. Vermont and Maine have the lowest baby output, with just slightly more than ten babies born per 1,000 people.

All about moms:
The waiting game: Over the last three decades, women have been waiting longer to become moms. In 1970, the average age for a first-time mother was about 21. Today, she's more likely to be 25 to 29 years old.

Midlife moms: Birth rates for women in their 30s and 40s are higher than ever and continue to grow:
• Women ages 30 to 34: Their birth rate rose slightly between 2004 and 2005, to 95.9 births per 1,000 women of that age range, the highest rate since 1964.
• Women ages 35 to 39: Their birth rate rose to 46.3 births per 1,000, up 2 percent from 2004 and the highest rate since 1965.
• Women ages 40 to 44: Their birth rate also went up by 2 percent to 9.1 per 1,000, their highest rate since 1968.
• Women ages 45 to 49: Their birth rate increased slightly, to 0.6 births per 1,000 women in that age range, the first increase since 2000 and the highest rate for this group since 1970.

Fewer tot-toting teens: The big news for 2005 is that the birth rate for teenagers dropped 2 percent for 15- to 19-year-olds, a whopping 35 percent drop from a peak of 61.8 percent in 1991 and the lowest ever recorded in the 65 years since a consistent series of rates first became available. The drop was mostly among 15- to 17-year-olds, whose birth rate fell 3 percent to about 21 births per 1,000 teens in that age range, another record low for the United States. The rate for this age group has dropped a massive 45 percent since 1991.

No wedding necessary: Almost 37 percent (more than 1.5 million) of U.S. babies were born to unmarried women in 2005 — up 4 percent, following a previous 4 percent increase in 2004. The birth rate among unmarried women has increased by 12 percent since 2002.

Seeking care: The number of women seeking prenatal care — which can help women have a healthier pregnancy and healthier babies — has been on the upswing. It leveled off in 2004, with about 84 percent of women seeking prenatal care in their first trimester, a more than 11 percent improvement since 1990.

Weighing in: Moms-to-be in the United States gain a median of about 30 pounds during pregnancy — which means half gain more, half gain less. This number has stayed constant since 1990.

No-smoking zone: In 2004, about 10 percent of moms reported smoking sometime during pregnancy, which is bad news for their babies. Women who smoked during pregnancy were more likely to deliver low-birth-weight babies (nearly 12 percent of births) than women who didn't smoke (about 7 percent of births). If you're trying to quit, get tips on kicking the habit from moms who've been there.

Birth and delivery
Doctor, doctor: The vast majority of moms in the United States give birth in hospitals (99 percent) with the help of a physician (91 percent). But women are increasingly choosing other providers. Today, midwives attend about 8 percent of births, up from less than 1 percent in the mid-1970s.

C-sections soaring: The number of cesarean deliveries has jumped another 4 percent to 30.2 percent of births — up by 46 percent since 1996, a continuing record for the United States.

Giving labor a push: The number of women whose labor is induced has more than doubled since 1990, to about 21.2 percent of births.

Boy power: Boy babies outnumber girl babies, with about 1,048 males for every 1,000 females — a ratio that's stayed about the same over the past 60 years.

Tons of twins: The number of twins born in the United States continues to rise, with 32.3 pairs of twins born for every 1,000 births. The rate has skyrocketed 70 percent since 1980, as more women are becoming moms at an older age (older women have a greater chance of conceiving twins spontaneously) and more women are using fertility treatments. The rate of triplets and higher multiple births shot up by more than 400 percent between 1980 and 1998 but then started to decline, in part because of improvements in fertility treatments.

Early birds: More babies are being born prematurely.  The preterm delivery rate has gone up more than 30 percent since 1981. In 2005, about 12.7 percent of births were early arrivals — most of them in the moderately early range, from 32 to 36 weeks — up from 12.5 in 2004. Although the upswing in twins and other multiple births has had an impact, shorter gestations have also risen among single-baby births.

Little lightweights: The number of low-birth-weight babies (less than 5 1/2 pounds) has been on the rise, which researchers say is due in part to more twins being born. About 8.2 percent of babies born in 2005 were low birth weight — the most reported since 1970 and a 20 percent climb since the mid-1980s.

For more details, see the CDC's full 2004 report on birth trends. (Warning: It's a 102-page PDF file, so it may take a long time to download if you don't have a high-speed Internet connection.) To get a peek at the 2005 data, check out the preliminary report for 2005.