Connecticut Ranks Third in Analysis of Best States for Women's Health

Connecticut ranked third in the nation in a review of the state of women’s health across the country. The website SmileHub compared each of the 50 states based on 18 key metrics. The dataset ranges from the maternal mortality rate to the quality of women’s hospitals to the affordability of a doctor’s visit.

The top 10 states overall for women’s health – heavily represented by New England states - were Massachusetts, Hawaii, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, California, Minnesota, Vermont and New Hampshire.

Connecticut was 2nd in Safety, 6th in Health & Living Standards and 13th in Health Care Policies and Support Systems.  Also of note, Connecticut led all states in the ranking of Highest Quality Women’s Hospitals, followed by Montana, Wisconsin, Delaware and Massachusetts.

The Health & Living Standards category metrics included women’s life expectancy at birth, the female uninsured rate, women’s preventative health care, and the share of women with good or better health.

The Health Care Policies & Support Systems category metrics include the quality of women’s hospitals, affordability of doctor’s visits, and domestic violence support services.

The Safety metrics include depression rate, suicide rate, and prevalence of rape victimization.

 SmileHub is a nonprofit tech company that uses data to rate charities, and provides resources that “make it easy for donors to find more information and maximize the impact of their donations.” Their platform is designed to “help users find and donate to causes and charities that align with their values and interests.”

Data used to create the ranking for Best States for Women’s Health were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States Mortality DataBase, United Health Foundation, U.S. News & World Report, Guttmacher and National Domestic Violence Hotline.

SmileHub noted that “Even though there are efforts across the nation to support women's health, some states provide better conditions for women to thrive than others.”  The website also pointed out that “access to affordable health care remains a challenge, and more than one-third of women in the U.S. skip needed medical care because of the cost.”