PROVIDENCE – Southcoast Hospital System, which includes Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford and Tobey Hospital in Wareham, was among four Massachusetts hospitals listed as “high performing” on U.S. News and World Report 2022-2023 Best Hospitals for Maternity Care released Tuesday.
U.S. News evaluated nearly 650 hospitals that provide labor and delivery services and submitted detailed data to the publication for analysis. No Rhode Island hospitals were named in the 2022-2023 report. Newport Hospital was listed as high performing in 2021-2022.
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The study is based entirely on objective measures of quality, such as C-section rates in lower-risk pregnancies, newborn complication rates, exclusive breast milk feeding rates and early elective delivery rates, among others. New this year, researchers also considered episiotomy rates, vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) rates, and whether each hospital met new federal criteria for “birthing-friendly” practices and used methodology which rewarded hospitals that tracked and reported their outcomes for patients of different races and ethnicities.
Fewer than 300 hospitals received a high-performing designation, which is the highest award a hospital can earn in maternity care. That rating focused on uncomplicated pregnancies and may not apply to high-risk pregnancies, such as patients with diabetes or who are pregnant with twins. High-performing hospitals also had fewer early deliveries, fewer C-sections, fewer newborn complications than other hospitals, had higher rates of breast milk feeding and more.
“When expectant parents are considering their options for welcoming a baby into the world, the Best Hospitals for Maternity Care is designed to help them identify hospitals that excel in delivering babies for uncomplicated pregnancies,” said Min Hee Seo, senior health data scientist at U.S. News.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester were the other three that were listed as high performing on the 2022-2023 report.
UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital, Boston Medical Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital and Milford Regional Medical Center were listed as having participated in the maternity services survey – not high performing.
