Which NC hospitals give the best maternity care? See new U.S. News & World Report list

Teddy Rosenbluth
·4 min read

Seventeen North Carolina hospitals received top marks for their maternity care safety and quality, according to a new report released Tuesday.

The U.S. News & World Report— a digital media company that publishes independent rankings— surveyed 680 hospitals nationwide to determine their ability to care for patients with “uncomplicated” pregnancies.

Based on several data points, including C-section delivery rates and unexpected newborn complications, each hospital was either determined to be “high performing” or “not high performing.”

Out of all U.S. states, North Carolina ranked fourth for the highest number of hospitals deemed high performing.

Here’s what you need to know:

Which North Carolina hospitals have the best maternity care?

According to this survey, 17 North Carolina hospitals meet the bar of having “high-performing” maternity care. The full list of these hospitals is included below.

The medical centers with bolded names did not achieve this rank last year.

  • Alamance Regional Medical Center

  • Atrium Health-Cabarrus

  • Atrium Health-Pineville

  • Atrium Health-University City

  • Catawba Valley Medical Center (Hickory)

  • Duke Regional Hospital (Durham)

  • Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital (Greensboro)

  • Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center

  • Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center

  • Novant Health Matthews Medical Center

  • Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center

  • Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center

  • Novant Health Thomasville Medical Center

  • UNC Hospitals (Chapel Hill)

  • UNC Rex Hospital (Raleigh)

  • WakeMed Cary Hospital

  • WakeMed Raleigh Campus

Which hospitals did poorly on this review?

Fifteen other hospitals submitted data to be evaluated and were determined not to be on par with other centers of high-performing maternity care. The full list of hospitals is listed below.

The medical centers with bolded names had been deemed one of the best hospitals for maternity care last year but fell below that threshold in this year’s report.

  • Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center (Charlotte)

  • Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center

  • Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist-High Point Medical Center

  • Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist-Wilkes Medical Center

  • Atrium Health-Cleveland

  • Atrium Health-Lincoln

  • Atrium Health-Stanly

  • Atrium Health-Union

  • Cape Fear Valley Medical Center

  • Duke University Hospital (Durham)

  • Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital (Elkin)

  • Novant Health Mint Hill Medical Center

  • Novant Health Rowan Medical Center

  • Sentara Albemarle Medical Center

  • UNC Health Blue Ridge

What were these rankings based on?

Each year, the U.S. News & World Report sends hospitals a lengthy survey that attempts to determine how well they handle uncomplicated pregnancies (those with complicated pregnancies should refer to the Best Hospitals rankings).

For this year’s list, they asked hospitals to report data from the 2021 calendar year.

They based each hospital’s designation on eight measures:

  • C-section delivery rates: This quantifies the proportion of low-risk mothers who underwent a C-section, which carries more risk of complication than vaginal delivery. This is often used as a benchmark of care quality.

  • Early elective delivery (EED) rates: This metric tracks what proportion of women who elect to birth their baby sooner than their due date, a practice that has been discouraged by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for decades due to the risk of complications for the mother and baby.

  • Unexpected newborn complication rates: This item asks how many babies without preexisting conditions and who had “normal” development experienced severe health complications, like infection or injury.

  • Routine vaginal birth after cesarean delivery (VBAC) rates: This metric measures whether women who have previously had a C-section are given the option to deliver vaginally during subsequent deliveries. Women who deliver vaginally after a previous cesarean are less likely to experience birth-related morbidity, according to the CDC.

  • Exclusive human milk feeding rates: this measures what percentage of babies were exclusively breastfed during their hospital stay, which can protect the baby from future complications, like allergies, asthma and obesity.

  • Episiotomy rates: Experts say an episiotomy, a cut made at the vagina opening during childbirth, should rarely be performed. High performing hospitals will typically have a low rate.

  • Birthing-friendly practice: This metric determines whether the hospital has “demonstrated their commitment to improving maternal outcomes” by launching initiatives to reduce maternal morbidity.

  • Transparency on racial/ethnic disparities: This tracks whether the hospital tracked and reported its race- and ethnicity-specific performance of measures for which racial and ethnic disparities may exist.

This is a breaking news story that will be updated throughout the day.

Teddy Rosenbluth covers science and health care for The News & Observer in a position funded by Duke Health and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.

North Carolina receives millions in federal grants to address maternal mortality ‘crisis’

Pregnancy can be risky in the US. In North Carolina, the threat of death is even higher.