---

What's Good

•Hospital costs here are among the lowest in our survey.

•According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, San Antonio is 29 percent more affordable than average for cities in our survey.

•Just 3 percent of pregnant women in San Antonio admit to smoking during pregnancy, the 4th lowest rate in our survey. Nationwide, 8 percent of pregnant women smoke.

•State laws require health insurance companies to provide or offer at least some coverage for fertility-related services.

•Texas stands out in a measure of legislation related to cord blood education, research and related issues.

•Day-care centers in San Antonio are required by state law to meet special requirements aimed at reducing the risk of SIDS. Many cities and states have less-stringent or no SIDS-prevention programs for day-cares.

•San Antonio's violent crime rate is 41 percent lower than average, the 9th lowest in our survey, in fact.

Needs Improvement

•Babies here are 14 percent more likely than average to be born prematurely.

•32 percent of babies in Texas are born via Cesarean section, among the highest in our survey. The average is 27 percent.

•7.8 percent of San Antonio mothers breastfeed their babies exclusively (meaning no solids, formula or other liquids) for 6 months or longer as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. That's the 11th lowest percentage among cities in our survey. The average for our survey is 12 percent.

•San Antonio has one doula for every 1,918 live births, the 5th lowest ratio in our survey. The national average is one doula per 649 live births.

•San Antonio has 17 midwives for every 1,000 births, the 5th lowest in our survey. The national average is 37 midwives for every 1,000 births.

•Expecting and new moms have few parks: San Antonio's ratio of parks to residents is 1 : 6,059. The average in our survey is 1 : 3,790.

•Texas devotes less money relative to population than most states to child car-seat-check stations.