Prenatal use of WIC services also decreases the odds of having a low birth-weight newborn by 25 percent and reduces very low birth-weight births by 44 percent. Having a higher birth-weight newborn has the potential to decrease costs for hospitalization in the first year, since infants with lower birth-weight have higher costs for initial hospitalization and higher re-hospitalization costs. Every dollar spent on prenatal WIC benefits re-sulted in a savings of $0.93 for the Federal Government, $0.77 for State governments, and an additional $1.37 for private payers, hospitals, and in-surers' ($3.07 total) costs. Because of these savings, WIC is often cited as being one of the most cost-effective food assistance programs in the nation.