The percentage of Virginia women who smoke during their pregnancies has declined steadily in the last 10 years, which is good news for their babies. Less encouraging is an increase in other measures such as low birth weight that can place a newborn infant's health at risk.

A report released this week by the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore puts Virginia's progress toward healthier births in national perspective, and the numbers show a generally favorable picture.

Virginia ranks seventh nationally in the percentage of births to smokers -- 9 percent. That was below the U.S. average of 13 percent in 1999, the most recent year for which figures were available. The decline from previous years was dramatic; in 1990, about 16 percent of Virginia babies were born to mothers who smoked.

Another positive trend was the drop in teenage births, to 10.6 percent of all births in 1999, the lowest figure in 10 years and below the national average of 12.3 percent.

Virginia is 15th among states in the percentage of babies born to women with less than 12 years' education and 17th in the percentage of births to unmarried women. Both figures were lower than the national average.

The state ranks 22nd in the percentage of babies receiving late or no prenatal care. And Virginia has shown a steady rise in the number of low birth-weight babies and premature births since 1990. Nationally in those two categories, it ranks 28th and 30th, respectively.
