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Maternity Care Honor Roll, 2022

The 2022 Maternity Care Honor Roll recognizes 108 hospitals that met or surpassed the statewide target aimed at reducing births via Cesarean (C-Section) in first-time mothers with low-risk pregnancies.

In collaboration with the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (CMQCC) and CalHospitalCompare.org (CHC), HCAI’s 2022 Maternity Care Honor Roll data visualization gives an overview of the 211 hospitals that offer maternity services in California with stars indicating the 108 hospitals named to the 2022 Maternity Care Honor Roll.

The hospitals earning maternity care honor roll status have met or surpassed the target of reducing Cesarean (C-section) rates for low-risk, first-births to 23.6 percent.

In 2015, the California Health and Human Services Agency began recognizing hospitals that meet the 23.9 percent statewide target of C-Sections for low-risk births through its maternity care honor roll. Beginning this year, CHC changed the NTSV C-section rate threshold for honor roll hospitals from 23.9 percent to 23.6 percent to align with the Healthy People 2030 goals.

According to the California Health and Human Services Agency, evidence suggests that the chance of having a C-section delivery largely depends on aspects such as where a woman delivers and the practice patterns of her obstetric care team. Even for low-risk, first-birth pregnancies, huge variations are noted in rates of C-sections at individual hospitals.

For mothers, overuse of C-sections can result in higher rates of complications like hemorrhage, transfusions, infection, and blood clots. The surgery also brings risks for babies, including higher rates of infection, respiratory complications, neonatal intensive care unit stays, and lower breastfeeding rates.

Key Finding

  • Of the 108 hospitals recognized in 2022, 75 achieved each of the last three years, and 32 have achieved Honor Roll status seven years running.

*A hospital with an asterisk indicates it has achieved the maternity care honor roll for the past seven years.

Data and Resources

Additional Information

Topic: Healthcare Utilization
Source Link: Healthcare Utilization – Patient-Level Administrative Data
Citation: 2022 Maternity Care (C-Section) Honor Roll, CalHospitalCompare.org; Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI): Patient Discharge Data.
Temporal Coverage: 2020-2022
Spatial/Geographic Coverage: Statewide
Frequency: Annual