When Annette Ramirez, 23, gave birth to her daughter, Stevie, earlier this year, she was happy to welcome a healthy baby girl into the family. (Disclosure: Stevie is part of my extended family.) As she held her daughter in her arms for the first time, she probably wasn’t thinking about how demographics played a role in the outcome of her and Stevie’s health.
But Ramirez does fit into a demographic. She and her daughter live in southern Santa Barbara County in a safe neighborhood, and she has more than a high-school-equivalent level of education, is financially stable, has a multiracial background, and has access to health care.
A majority of Ramirez’s characteristics are a green flag for delivering a healthy baby in Santa Barbara County. However, as reflected in the county Public Health Department’s recently released Birth Report, there are a number of varying factors, and some glaring disparities, that affect what raising a child in Santa Barbara — from pregnancy to birth and everything that follows — will look like from one family to another.