The quality of a hospital's maternity care could be the one variable with the greatest influence on the long-term health of newborns and the women who have them.
Newsweek's recent ranking of America's Best Maternity Hospitals, released in partnership with Statista, recognizes the country's top 404 medical facilities in the field of maternity health. To help expectant families find the right facility to deliver their soon-to-arrive child, the third annual ranking features hospitals that were awarded either four or five ribbons based on an evaluation of their performance.
The evaluation centered on three pillars: an online survey of health care professionals and hospital managers with knowledge of maternity processes, results from patient experience surveys, and consideration of hospital quality metrics.
"This information is crucial for expectant parents who prioritize safety for themselves and their babies and want to choose the best possible hospital for their birth," Statista told Newsweek in an email.
Newsweek and Statista invited medical professionals to an online survey in January and February to recommend maternity hospitals and rate them in the areas of perinatal care, operative obstetrics, patient education and counseling, accommodations, and nurse and midwife staffing. The professional experience of the participant was considered, and their recommendations were weighted based on the order they gave the facilities they rated.
For the second pillar, publicly available data from patient surveys was used to analyze the overall patient experience at a particular hospital. Survey topics included areas such as hospital cleanliness, communication of staff members, discharge information and quietness.
The third pillar, hospital quality metrics, considered public Medicare and Medicaid Services data on maternal care, infection prevention, patient satisfaction and personnel vaccination. Data from The Joint Commission, a health care accreditation nonprofit, was used to analyze the number of cesarean births, unexpected complications in newborns, advanced certification in perinatal care, and for verifying that a hospital has the expertise, equipment and resources to care for maternal patients. Also, hospitals' participation in programs related to maternal and child health was included via data from the Health Resources and Services administration.
"For this year's evaluation, additional indicators on hospital quality metrics and maternal care were introduced," Statista said to Newsweek. "In addition to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) metrics included in previous editions, this year's edition also incorporates data on sepsis care and personnel vaccination (including influenza and COVID-19 vaccination among health care personnel)."
Five ribbons were ultimately awarded to 168 hospitals, while 236 hospitals received four ribbons. Statista said that 61 of the ranked hospitals have been featured for three consecutive years.
"The America's Best Maternity Hospitals ranking helps [parents] make informed decisions and contributes to transparency in health care by highlighting exemplary institutions," Statista told Newsweek. "This encourages hospitals to strive for improvement and accountability in their maternity care services."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
