Right Start 2004: Dorchester County

In order for South Carolina to improve its ranking, each county must make progress. The following table for Dorchester County shows the state rank, the required reduction to reach the national average, the current problem rate, and the ratio of the county problem rate to the U.S. rate:

Indicators	Rank of County if it were a State*	Reduction to reach U.S. Average #	Current Number**	Current Rate*	Rate: County / U.S. Ratio*
Births to teens	40	25	164	13.3	1.18
Second or more births to teens	8	**	28	17.0	0.81
Births to unmarried moms	43	54	469	37.9	1.13
Births to moms without high school degree	21	**	207	16.7	0.77
Late or no prenatal care	9	**	30	2.4	0.65
Births to moms smoking while pregnant	26	19	167	13.5	1.13
Low birthweight	45	20	115	9.3	1.21
Pre-term births	33	9	156	12.6	1.06

*Average 2000-2002 data.

**County is at or below national average already.
 

Annual Cost of Not Getting the 'Right Start' in Dorchester County*

Average Charges per Newborn			Number of Newborns		Excess Costs
Intermediate Low Birth Weight (excludes VLBW)	Very Low Birth Weight	Normal	Intermediate Low Birth Weight (excludes VLBW)	Very Low Birth Weight	Intermediate Low Birth Weight (excludes VLBW)	Very Low Birth Weight	Total
$9,885	$53,428	$1,624	94	21	$773,717	$1,105,151	$1,878,868

*Data is the average of three years: 2000-2002.

Sources:

Average Charges per Newborn computed using 2000 - 2002 South Carolina Hospital Billing Data, Office of Research and Statistics, South Carolina Budget and Control Board.

Number of Newborns taken from Vital Records, Department Health and Environmental Control.

Excess Costs computed by subtracting the average charge for a normal newborn from the average charge for a LBW newborn and multiplying by the number of LBW newborns.