Alabama has fewer new mothers than most states, but one county bucks trend
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Alabama has fewer new mothers than most states, but one county bucks trend

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A woman’s first Mother’s Day as a parent is a special day, but in Alabama, there are fewer new mothers celebrating than in most other states.

According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, just 4.7% of women between the ages of 15 and 50 gave birth within the last 12 months as of 2021 – the most recent date data was available. That was tied for the 9th lowest percentage in the United States.

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Alabama was tied with Connecticut and Virginia for the No. 9 spot, and trailed only Vermont (4.1%), Colorado (4.4%), Florida (4.5%), Massachusetts (4.5%), Rhode Island (4.6%), New Hampshire (4.6%), Oregon (4.6%) and New York (4.6%).

Alabama had a notably lower percentage of new mothers than many of its closest neighbors. Each of Mississippi, Tennessee and Georgia saw more than 5% of women between 15 and 50 give birth within the timeframe. Meanwhile, only three states – Texas (6%), Nebraska (6.2%) and North Dakota (6.7%) saw 6% or more of women 15-50 give birth in that time.

Alabama’s overall new birth rate may have been low in 2021, but one county was far ahead of the rest of the state.

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Bibb County, just south of Birmingham and part of the Birmingham-Hoover metro area, led the state with 12.9% of women in the specified age group giving birth in the most recent 12 months.

County data was calculated using annual averages based on a five-year sample size, rather than the 1-year number state level data uses. So over the five years from 2017 to 2021, in an average year, 12.9% of women between 15 and 50 in Bibb County reported giving birth in the previous 12 months.

That was by far the highest percentage in Alabama, with the next closest county – Chambers County in far east Alabama – reaching only 8.7%.

Do you have an idea for a data story about Alabama? Or questions about Alabama that data may be able to answer? Email Ramsey Archibald at [email protected], and follow him on Twitter @RamseyArchibald. Read more Alabama data stories here.