U.S. News and World Report released a list Dec. 6 recognizing 297 hospitals for maternity care.
To compile its Best Hospitals for Maternity Care (Uncomplicated Pregnancy) list, U.S. News examined survey data voluntarily submitted by nearly 650 hospitals offering maternity care in the U.S. The publication assessed the hospitals' performance during 2020 in eight quality metrics: nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex cesarean-section rates; unexpected newborn complications rates; episiotomy rates; early elective delivery rates; vaginal birth after cesarean delivery rates; exclusive breast milk feeding rates; whether the hospital met new federal criteria for "birthing-friendly" practices; and transparency on racial/ethnic disparities.
Four measures — episiotomy rates, vaginal birth after cesarean rates, "birthing-friendly" practice, and transparency on racial/ethnic disparities — are new for this year's list. Seven measures were collected through a survey by U.S. News. For early elective delivery rates, the publication said it collected and used data only from hospitals for which that data was not available via CMS data. For more information on the methodology, click here.
U.S. News gave 297 hospitals high-performing designations in maternity care for 2022-23. High-performing hospitals received an overall rating that's listed on their individual scorecard on U.S. News' website. Hospitals without the designation have scorecards with information on their performance and individual metrics.
View the full results here.