Right Start 2004: Lancaster County

In order for South Carolina to improve its ranking, each county must make progress. The following table for Lancaster 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	48	41	132	16.4	1.46
Second or more births to teens	43	2	29	22.2	1.06
Births to unmarried moms	48	84	353	44.0	1.31
Births to moms without high school degree	45	33	207	25.8	1.19
Late or no prenatal care	10	**	21	2.6	0.70
Births to moms smoking while pregnant	32	33	130	16.1	1.31
Low birthweight	50	26	88	10.9	1.42
Pre-term births	46	16	112	13.9	1.17

*Average 2000-2002 data.

**County is at or below national average already.
 

Annual Cost of Not Getting the 'Right Start' in Lancaster 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
$9,557	$47,755	$2,614	70	18	$485,985	$812,545	$1,298,530

*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.