Santa Barbara County Birth Rates ‘Overwhelmingly’ Determined by Region
Birth Report Finds Significant Differences Between North and South County Mothers and Their Children’s Related Health Outcomes
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.
