Summary

Overall, Orange County compares well on all birth outcome indicators relative to the U.S. and the state of California (with the exception of the county’s high cesarean delivery rates). Orange County has notably lower prevalence rates of preterm birth, low birth weight, births to teens, and infant mortality compared to the state of California and the nation. Prevalence rates of prenatal care and any breastfeeding initiation also compare favorably with the U.S. and California benchmarks for these indicators. Similarly, Orange County has achieved six of the seven Healthy People 2020 goals presented in this report that have a target objective (Table 33). The prevalence rates of pre-term births, low birth weight, early prenatal care, low-risk cesareans, any breastfeeding initiation, and infant mortality (green font color) have met the 2020 objective. The one birth indicator that remains to be achieved in Orange County is the repeat cesarean deliveries to low-risk mothers (red font color).

Table 33. Summary of OC Birth Indicators to Healthy People 2020 Goals Birth Outcome Indicators (2010) OC HP2020

Births to Teens (per 1,000 females 15-19) 22.4 n/a Pre-Term Births 9.1% 11.4% Low Birth Weight 6.4% 7.8% Early Prenatal Care 89.9% 77.9% Low-Risk Primary Cesarean 17.2% 23.9% Low-Risk Repeat Cesarean 94.5% 81.7% Any Breastfeeding Initiation 92.8% 81.9% Infant Mortality (per 1,000 live births) 3.8 6.0

These successes notwithstanding, it is important for providers and stakeholders to remain vigilant in order to maintain and improve on these areas. As described in this report, pronounced disparities exist across different race/ethnic groups and across different cities in the county. For the remainder of this decade, prenatal health care providers and other stakeholders can strive to serve areas of need and endeavor to reduce disparities wherever they exist in order to improve birth outcomes for all Orange County babies.