“Student’s Name”
“Institution Affiliation”
The National Center for Health statistics established the birth rate for teenagers aged 15-19 to be at 31.3 births per 1,000 teens as at 2011 (Phila.gov, 2011). This number has reduced arguably as compared to the previous year where rate of birth among teenagers was quite high. For example, in 1991, birth rate among teenagers was at 61.8 per 1,000 teenagers and this number has continued to reduce because of various programs initiated to curb rampant teen pregnancy. The preterm birth dropped to 11.7 percent while the rate for low birth weight babies considerably declined from 8.15 to 8.1 in 2011. According to the report, teen births are associated with preterm births and a lot of pregnancies are unplanned for. However, the drop in teen births was significant for some races than others in Philadelphia. Non-Hispanic blacks recorded 47.4 births per every 1,000 teens while that of Hispanic stood at 49.4%. Another observation is that the rate of preterm births in Philadelphia is at lowest since the history of the county. Preterm births refer to births that are at least three weeks. This has been enabled by birth of late preterm babies. Further, because of the ability of pregnant teenage girls to access health facilities at affordable cost, preterm births has been greatly mitigated.
The number of low weight babies according to the latest statistics is 8.1 percent for babies with less than 5.5 pounds. This number has continued to reduce with time. However, number of births that result to low weight babies according to statistics is high on Black population as opposed to white Hispania. While Hispania make 34.46% of the total number of low weight births, Black Hispania give birth to 52.7% of the low weight babies and the rest of the percentage distributed among the remaining races. Studies indicate that pregnant woman should eat healthy and exercise to ensure she delivers a healthy baby, hence weight is a by-product of healthy habits of the mother. Additionally, women who do not receive prenatal care are three times likely to give birth to low weight baby and this baby is five times likely to die within its first year of life. During prenatal care, any medical conditions that may be identified can be treated thus helping reduce the number of low weight births.
Infant mortality rate stands at 9.8 percent in Philadelphia implying that out of every 1,000 newborns, 10 are bound to die. The statistics shockingly reveal that 487 newborns die in less than one year while half of that number die within the first 24 hours. Others die from sleep-related causes and suffocation. The number of infant deaths among the black Hispanic mothers is higher than that of White mothers by 20% (John, 2013). This is because of socio-economic demographics of the county where Blacks are less likely to afford basic prenatal care because of poverty. In fact, the infant mortality rate in Philadelphia is worrying and compared to that of developing countries. It is ranked fifth in the states with high infant mortality rate. Also, it is established that because of many births given by teenagers, they have little or no information on how to take care of their babies (John, 2013). They are also likely not to afford basic health services if the family is unsupportive or unable to provide.
The number of white Hispanic teenagers who receive prenatal care stands at 73% of the total White Hispanic teenagers who are pregnant (Clay, 2011). This number is quite high as compared to that of Black Hispanic teenage girls. The number of Black Hispanic teenagers who receive prenatal care is at 50.4% of the total pregnant Black Hispania.
References
Clay et al. (2011) Parental Care Capacity Assessment in Philadelphia. Retrieved from
http://idea.library.drexel.edu/bitstream/1860/3587/1/Clay,%20Deshanett.pdf
John A (2013) Newborn Mortality High for Several Years after Large Scale Closures of Urban
Maternity Units. Retrieved from http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-10/chop-
nmw100312.php
Phila.gov (2011) Birth Statistics by Race. Retrieved from
http://www.phila.gov/health/pdfs/2011VitalStatisticsReport.pdf
