Charlotte Ryan Darmody, daughter of Troy and Bonnie Darmody, was born at 12:27 p.m. Sept. 15, 2009, at St. Luke’s Boise Medical Center. She weighed 9 pounds, 4 ounces and was 21.25 inches long, a little bigger than the average newborn. In the photo at right, Charlotte was just one day old.

She’s the little sister in a family with two brothers: Brady, 3, and Colby, 4. Charlotte isn’t named after a family member or anyone else the Darmodys know. Their goal: Steer as far as possible from names on “Top 100” lists. They saw “Charlotte” as a nice mix of tradition and fun. Dad figures he’ll call her “Charlie.”

Who we are: pregnancy and birth in Idaho

• Women have their first baby at a younger age than the national average. In Idaho, the mean age is 24, compared with the national mean of 25.

• First-time mothers in Idaho range in age from 13 to 46.

• Idaho has a much lower percentage of babies born to unmarried mothers than other states. In Idaho, 25 percent of all births are to unwed mothers. The national average is 38 percent.

• Private health insurance paid for just over half of births, or 53 percent. Public programs financed by local, state or federal taxes paid for most of the rest — 34 percent. Eleven percent paid the entire cost themselves.

• Idaho women have more babies than the national average. In Idaho, 83 of every 1,000 women ages 15 to 45 had a baby in 2007.
The national fertility rate is 68.

Source: Idaho Vital Statistics 2007, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare