16 large hospitals with the lowest C-section rates

Whether a pregnant woman has a cesarean section is largely dictated by the hospital in which she chooses to give birth, according to Consumer Reports.

Consumer Reports conducted an analysis of C-section birth rates at more than 1,300 hospitals among first-time mothers at low risk, or those who are having one full-term child who is positioned head first. It found 203 U.S. hospitals had low-risk C-section rates of 18.4 percent or less. The national average is 25.8 percent and the national target, set by HHS, is 23.9 percent.

The following 16 hospitals had C-section rates of 17 percent or less, according to Consumer Reports. These hospitals also delivered at least 3,500 babies or had at least 750 low-risk births in 2015 or the nine months ending September 2015 or June 2016.

1. Crouse Hospital (Syracuse, N.Y.) — 7 percent
2. SSM St. Mary's Health Center (St. Louis) — 12 percent
3. Memorial Medical Center (Springfield, Ill.) — 12 percent
4. Lovelace Women's Hospital (Albuquerque, N.M.) — 13 percent
5. Bakersfield (Calif.) Memorial Hospital — 13 percent
6. Utah Valley Regional Medical Center (Provo, Utah) — 14 percent
7. WakeMed Raleigh Campus (Raleigh, N.C.) — 15 percent
8. Intermountain Medical Center (Murray, Utah) — 16 percent
9. Desert Regional Medical Center (Palm Springs, Calif.) — 16 percent
10. NorthShore University Health System (Evanston, Ill.) — 17 percent
11. Kaiser Permanente Panorama City (Calif.) Medical Center — 17 percent
12. Kaleida Health (Buffalo, N.Y.) — 17 percent
13. Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago) — 17 percent
14. TMC HealthCare (Tucson, Ariz.) — 17 percent
15. University Medical Center (Lubbock, Texas) — 17 percent
16. Providence Regional Medical Center Everett (Wash.) — 17 percent

*Repeat numbers indicate organizations with the same ranking based on C-section rate.

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