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Erie County
Community Assessment Data
A Guide to Understanding the Well-Being of Children & Families in Erie County, Pennsylvania

Low Birth Weight Births

CHARTS

Low Birth Weight by Municipality for 1997 to 2001

Low Birth Weight by County for 2001

Low Birth Weight by City for 1997 to 2001

Very Low Birth Weight by City for 2001


MEASUREMENT

Figures for birth weight by trimester of entry to prenatal care1 and birth weight by age information2 for the state and counties are from the PA Health Department as is the information on municipalities in Erie County.3 Information on the City of Erie, Erie County, PA & USA in addition to information by race is from the Erie County Department of Health.4

The percentage of low birth weight births is the number of babies born weighing below 2,500 grams divided by the total number of births, and multiplied by 100. The percentage of very low birth weight births is the number of babies born weighing below 1.500 grams divided by the total number of births and multiplied by 100.

State data was provided by the Bureau of Health Statistics and Research, Pennsylvania Department of Health. Local data was provided by the Erie County Department of Health, Erie County Vital Statistics Database and Health Care Cost Summit – Health Status Indicators Project. These entities specifically disclaim responsibility for any analyses, interpretations or conclusions.


DESCRIPTION

A low birth weight infant is defined one that weights less than 2,500 grams (5 pounds, 9 ounces) at birth. These infants are at higher risk long-term illness, disability, or death than are infants of normal birth weight. These problems can include developmental delays, visual and hearing defects, chronic respiratory ailments, and learning difficulties that interfere with normal development and progress in school.

The most fragile of these babies are those born at very low birth weight, which is defined as below 1,500 grams (3 pounds, 8 ounces).

It should be noted that medical advances have helped some high-risk pregnancies to continue (when there are medical complications, multiple babies, etc.). Without these advances, some of the low birth weight babies may not have survived to birth.


DATA ANALYSIS
  • Both Erie County and the City of Erie were below both the US and the Pennsylvania percentages of low birth weight births during 2000. The county was 17.1% below the US figure while the City of Erie was 2.6% lower.
  • Erie County had a higher percentage of low birth weights over only Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties during 2001.
  • Although the City of Erie’s percentage was 10.3% higher than the state percentage, only Scranton and Wilkes-Barre had lower rates.
  • Although Black infants are more likely to be born of low birth weight across the US, Pennsylvania, Erie County and the City of Erie, the percentage of low birth weight Black infants in Erie County was 5.4% lower than the US while the City of Erie was 4.6% lower than the US percentage.
  • The Erie County White percentage was 9.2% higher than the national rate while the City of Erie was 6.2% lower than the national rate.
  • The percentage of Hispanic infants born of low birth weight was 12.2% lower than the state and the lowest among Urban Third Class Cities between 1999-2001.
  • Of the Urban Third Class Counties, only Lackawanna and Luzerne counties had lower percentages of very low birth weight babies than Erie County in 2001.
  • Women are generally more likely to have low birth weight infants if they receive late or no prenatal care.
  • Only Erie County countered the trend of teenaged mothers being more likely to have low birth weight babies.

FOOTNOTE

1 Resident Live Births by Trimester of First Prenatal Visit (n.d.). Retrieved January 28, 2003, from http://webserver.health.state.pa.us/health/leb/health/BRX0120_01.pdf.

2 Resident Births by Birth Weight, Age of Mother, and County. (n.d.). Retrieved February 17, 2003, from http://webserver.health.state.pa.us/health/lib/health/BRX008P_01.pdf.

3 Births by Birth Weight,MCD and County. (n.d.). Retrieved February 17, 2003, fromhttp://webserver.health.state.pa.us/health/lib/helath/lbwxmcd.pdf.

4 Percentage of Low Birth Weight Infants. (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2003, from http://www.ecdh.org/documents/Low_Birth_Weight.pdf.