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Print This PageHouston, TX
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What's Good
- Relative to population, Houston has more specialty retailers of healthy/organic foods and vitamins than most places in our survey.
- Women in Houston are 72 percent less likely than average to smoke during pregnancy. That's the 4th lowest rate in our survey. Nationwide, about 1 out of every 12 pregnant women smokes.
- State laws require health insurance companies to provide or offer at least some coverage for fertility-related services.
- Houston lacks access to fertility clinics that offer advanced reproductive technology, as reported to the CDC.
- There are 114 percent more fertility doctors per capita here than average--the 9th highest ratio in our survey.
Needs Improvement
- Pedestrians have a 27 percent higher than average risk of being killed by a motor vehicle--among the most dangerous in our survey.
- Babies here are 12 percent more likely than average to be born prematurely.
- 30 percent of babies in Texas are born via Cesarean section. That rate is 12 percent more than average, and among the highest in our survey.
- Air quality here is worse than most cities in our survey. Air quality has been linked to childhood asthma and fertility rates, among other health effects.
- According to the Urban Mobility Report from Texas A&M University, Houston has one of the worst commutes of any city in our survey. It takes 42 percent longer to drive the same route during rush hour than in free-flowing traffic. That puts a lot more pressure on parents rushing to day care at the end of the day.
- Relative to the number of live births per year, Houston has 55 percent fewer doulas than average--that figure is the 2nd lowest in our survey.
- Houston has 20 percent fewer OB-GYNs per capita than average for cities in our survey.
- Houston has 37 percent fewer NICU beds than average, compared to the number of live births.
- It also trails in availability of dedicated hospital birthing rooms, compared to other cities.
