Alabama Is 2020’s Worst State For Babies: Report

BIRMINGHAM, AL — A recent study on the best states in which to have a baby has Alabama ranked dead last. The study, released by financial wellness website WalletHub, looked at a variety of factors involved in giving birth in each state.

To determine the most ideal places in the U.S. for parents and their newborns, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 32 key measures of cost, health care accessibility and baby-friendliness. The data set ranges from hospital conventional-delivery charges to annual average infant-care costs to pediatricians per capita.

Massachusetts, Minnesota and Vermont were the top 3 states, while Alabama, South Carolina and Mississippi were the bottom three. In fact, only two states — Oklahoma and Nevada — in the bottom 10 are in the Southeast.

Having a Baby in Alabama (1=Best; 25=Avg.):

• 44th – Infant Mortality Rate
• 49th – Rate of Low Birth-Weight
• 44th – Midwives & OB-GYNs per Capita
• 40th – Pediatricians & Family Doctors per Capita
• 43rd – Parental-Leave Policy Score

"While family household income is one predictor of child well-being, many factors contribute to long term thriving during childhood and into adulthood," said Dr. Susan K. Walker, Associate Professor, Department of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota. "Families' abilities to access employment, education, and health care through public transportation, public education, and other public investments in family life can mean the kind of stability that helps to reduce stress in the household. Reduced stress enables parents to attend more to the developmental, learning, and health needs of their children."

See the full study on WalletHub.