Data Highlight: Oklahoma ranks 25 (of 51) for low birthweight. Alaska was ranked first with the lowest low birthweight outcomes at 6.2 percent, and Mississippi reported the worst outcomes at 12.3 percent.8
DEFINITION
Low birthweight is def ined as a baby born weighing less than 2500 grams. These data are for 2019. 8
Lookbook Vol. 2
Low Birthweight
OKLAHOMA 8.2 percent
NATIONAL AVERAGE 8.3 percent
Why We Care: The health of Oklahoma women impacts the health of their children. Infant birthweight is impacted by several factors including the mother’s access to proper nutrition, smoking habits, stress levels, and ability to receive regular prenatal care. The consequences for low birthweight infants can be dire, and include respiratory distress syndrome, bleeding in the brain, intestinal issues, and damage to the retina.39 Later in life, these complications can lead to diabetes, blindness, deafness, heart disease, and breathing problems, among several other conditions.39 In essence, low birthweight babies are born without adequate time to develop, often leading to chronic illness later in life. Most alarming, Black women are twice as likely to have low birthweight baby than their White peers. Research designed to control for environmental factors has found that this disparity exists due to the effect historical and institutional trauma has on the mother’s, then the baby’s health .88
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What We Can Do: - Better address known social and environmental risk factors - Research on how historical and institutional racism affects preterm births and low birthweight in historically marginalized communities
