Having a baby is usually a happy, exciting time for both the mother and father to be. If you’re having a baby, or if you know someone who wants to have a baby soon, why not look into the cities that are the best to have a baby in America? So, in Pennsylvania, are we a safe place to have a baby?
LawnStarter has a new study out that lists the best cities to have a baby in America. It’s a fascinating study. “Which U.S. cities support women most through the challenges of motherhood?” LawnStarter asks in their new survey. LawnStarter adds that they did this study because the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act took effect on June 27, 2023. For the study, LawnStarter looked at the 200 biggest U.S. cities based on seven categories. Those categories included average delivery costs, access to lactation spaces, and reproductive rights. They also used a whopping 48 total metrics.
The safest city in all of America to have a baby, according to the study, is Portland, Oregon. Its overall score was 57.52. Portland ranked high in all the good categories, so that’s what made it No. 1 on LawnStarter’s list of the safest cities in America to have a baby.
Pennsylvania: Are We a Safe Place to Have a Baby?
So, where are we? Not good. Out of the 200 cities, our highest city is Pittsburgh at No. 75. Then, Philadelphia is at No. 156. This study would imply that Pennsylvania could be safer when it comes to having a baby, at least in comparison to other areas. Back to the best cities. Let’s look at the rest of the top 5. Coming in at No. 2 was Boston, Massachusetts. No. 3 was Bellevue, Washington. Then, at No. 4 is another Washington city in Seattle. Finally, at No. 5, it’s Orange, California. My uncle is a retired OB-GYN, and it’s interesting to me to see these different cities and why they are ranked so safe to have a baby. Find the full list of cities here.
6 Baby Names You Probably Should Avoid
Messiah
In 2013, a child support magistrate in East Tennessee ruled that a 7-month-old boy named Messiah must have his name changed to Martin. “The word ‘Messiah’ is a title, and it’s a title that has only been earned by one person, and that one person is Jesus Christ,” said Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew.
Adolf Hitler
In 2009, New Jersey parents Heath and Deborah Campbell were taken into state custody after authorities got involved in a cake incident. A bakery refused to decorate a cake with the words “Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler.” The Campbell’s gave their three children Nazi-inspired names including Adolf Hitler . Though the state said that their names were not the reason, it’s been reported that the parents didn’t believe them.
Allah
In 2018, Elizabeth Handy and Bilal Walk of Georgia sued their home state after officials refused to let them name their daughter ZalyKha Graceful Lorraina Allah. The issue was Allah, the two-year-old girl’s last name. Georgia law requires that children bear the last name of at least one of their parents. The parents won the case, with the help of lawyers from the ACLU.
1069
In 1976, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled that short-order cook and high school teacher Michael Herbert Dengler could not change his name to “1069.”
Santa Claus
In December 1999, Robert William Handley of Ohio filed a petition to change his name to Santa Robert Claus. Judge Lawrence Belskis denied his petition saying that “the public has a proprietary interest, a proprietary right in the identity of Santa Claus, both in the name and the persona.”
III
A 1984 ruling from the California Courts of Appeal denied a request from Thomas Boyd Ritchie III to change his name to the Roman numeral “III,” pronounced “Three.” The court said that, “a change to a roman numeral did not constitute a name change within the meaning of the law and that the new ‘name’ used by appellant was inherently confusing.”
