According to Fit Pregnancy Denver scored #5 out of 10 best cities in America to have a baby. Fit Pregnancy magazine looked at everything from doctors and hospitals to doulas, midwives, breastfeeding success rates, birth and health risk, stroller-friendly trails and parks, affordability, and a whole lot more. Here are some of the positive reasons that made Denver #5:
• 22 percent of babies in Colorado are born via Cesarean section, among the lowest in our survey. The average is 27 percent.
• Air quality here is better here than most cities in our survey. Air quality has been linked to childhood asthma and fertility rates, among other things.
• 86 percent of Denver mothers attempt breastfeeding. That’s the 8th highest percentage of any city in our report.
• 10.1 percent of births statewide are attended by midwives, compared to a national average of 7.3 percent.
• Denver has 61 midwives for every 1,000 births, the 9th highest in our survey. The national average is 37 midwives for every 1,000 births.
• With one acre of parkland for every 29 residents, there’s 75 percent more public park space than average here, relative to population.
• State laws do not require health insurance companies to provide or offer any fertility-related services.
• Denver has 8.0 NICU facilities per 10,000 births, 2nd highest in our survey. The average city in our survey has 3.4 NICU facilities per 10,000 live births.
• State laws require stringent background checks for day-care workers.
• There are 8.5 licensed day care centers for every 1,000 children under 4 years. The average city in our survey has 5.9.
• Colorado devotes more money relative to population than most states to child car-seat-check stations.
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Read the full report by visiting http://www.fitpregnancy.com/bestcities2008/
