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For expectant parents considering where to seek maternity care, these on this year's "Best Hospitals for Maternity Care" list from U.S. News & World Report.

This year, a dozen states once again had 10 or more high-performing hospitals. California, which had 63 such facilities, led the pack, followed by Pennsylvania, with 22, and New Jersey, with 19.

Alaska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and South Dakota, as well as Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, did not have any eligible hospitals participate, a spokesperson for U.S. News confirmed to MedPage Today in an email. Among states that had participating hospitals, those that did not have any facilities that were high-performing were Delaware, Mississippi, and Vermont.

"Hospitals that receive a high performing designation as part of Best Hospitals for Maternity Care meet a high standard in caring for parents with uncomplicated pregnancies," Jennifer Winston, PhD, health data scientist at U.S. News, said in a statement. "These hospitals have C-section rates that are 26% lower, and newborn complication rates that are 37% lower than unrecognized hospitals that participated in the survey."

Overall, 680 hospitals submitted survey data and were eligible for potential recognition, U.S. News stated in an explanation of its methodology for the list.

Eight measures were used to create a composite score, the outlet added. These were cesarean delivery rates in lower risk pregnancies, early elective delivery (EED) rates, overall unexpected newborn complications rates, routine vaginal birth after cesarean delivery rates, exclusive human milk feeding rates, episiotomy rates, birthing-friendly practice, and transparency on racial and ethnic disparities.

New this year were two questions about fetal deaths and postpartum services, U.S. News stated. Although in 2022, hospitals had the option to submit partial-year data from 2020 if COVID-19 affected their services or data collection, this year, service availability and performance data were required from the full 2021 calendar year. And each participating hospital had to submit EED rates regardless of whether data was available on CMS Care Compare. (Hospitals were asked to explain any large differences between Care Compare data and their reported values.)

Furthermore, U.S. News noted that it that highlighted 73 "Maternity Care Access Hospitals," or facilities that provide care to expectant parents "who wouldn't otherwise have access to maternity care and serve communities that would otherwise be maternity care deserts."

"On average, Maternity Care Access Hospitals are 15 miles further from the closest hospital providing maternity services than hospitals that did not receive this designation, and they are located in counties that have less than half the number of obstetric providers per 10,000 births than other hospitals," Winston and Ben Harder, managing editor and chief of health analysis at U.S. News, wrote in a piece accompanying the new evaluation.

Following is a list of states with the highest number of high-performing hospitals, according to this year's "Best Hospitals for Maternity Care" list.

States With the Most High-Performing Hospitals

• California: 63
• Pennsylvania: 22
• New Jersey: 19
• North Carolina: 17
• Wisconsin: 17
• Illinois: 16
• Colorado: 14
• Michigan: 13
• Florida: 12
• Ohio: 12
• Minnesota: 10
• Virginia: 10

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