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Maternity Care Honor Roll, 2023

The 2023 Maternity Care Honor Roll recognizes 107 hospitals that met or surpassed the statewide target aimed at reducing births via Cesarean (C-Section) in first-time mothers with low-risk pregnancies.

Introduction

In collaboration with the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (CMQCC) and CalHospitalCompare.org (CHC), HCAI’s 2023 Maternity Care Honor Roll data visualization gives an overview of the 211 hospitals that offer maternity services in California with stars indicating the 107 hospitals named to the 2023 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 met the 23.9 percent statewide target of C-Sections for low-risk births through its Maternity Care Honor Roll. Last 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.

Evidence suggests that the chance of having a C-section delivery largely depends on aspects such as where a delivering occurs and the practice patterns of the obstetric care team. Even for low-risk, first-birth pregnancies, huge variations are noted in rates of C-sections at individual hospitals.

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 107 hospitals recognized in 2023, 65 have made the Honor Roll the last three years, and 24 have achieved Honor Roll status eight years running.

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

How HCAI Created This Product

Through a strategic partnership with multiple organizations, HCAI consolidates data into a cohesive framework and transforms it into visually engaging and accessible formats tailored for public consumption. This ongoing collaboration allows HCAI to deliver the most current and pertinent insights concerning California hospitals that adhere to the statewide benchmarks for C-sections during low-risk births on an annual basis.

Additional Information

Topic: Healthcare Utilization
Source Link: Healthcare Utilization – Patient-Level Administrative Data
Citation: HCAI — Patient Discharge Data 2023; CMQCC-Maternity Care Honor Roll, 2023
Temporal Coverage: 2021-2023
Spatial/Geographic Coverage: Statewide, County
Frequency: Annual