U.S. News & World Report Names UCI Health a High Performing Hospital for the Best Hospitals for Maternity

UCI Health earned a ‘High Performing’ rating, the highest rating available, in Best Hospitals for Maternity Care (Uncomplicated Pregnancy) by U.S. News & World Report. This is the first time U.S. News has published a list of Best Hospitals for Maternity.

“It’s an honor to be recognized in the inaugural edition of the Best Hospitals for Maternity,” said UCI Health CEO Chad T. Lefteris. “Our dedicated team of obstetric professionals stop at nothing to ensure expecting women get the best treatment while minimizing complications.”

To be recognized among the Best Hospitals for Maternity, hospitals had to excel on multiple quality metrics that matter to expectant families, including complication rates, C-sections, whether births were scheduled too early in pregnancy, and how successfully each hospital supported breastfeeding. Only one-third of the hospitals evaluated by U.S. News for maternity care earned a ‘High Performing’ rating. 

“All families deserve to be informed on how hospitals perform on key indicators of quality, which is why U.S. News has compiled and published a trove of maternal health data from hospitals across the country,” said Ben Harder, managing editor and chief of health analysis at U.S. News & World Report. “The hospitals we’ve recognized as High Performing meet a high standard in caring for patients with uncomplicated pregnancies.”

Early this year, UCI Health earned the 2021 Maternity Honor Roll Award from the California Health and Human Services (CHHS) Agency, Hospital Quality Institute (HQI) and Cal Hospital Compare (CHC) for reducing births via cesarean section (C-section) in first-time mothers with low-risk pregnancies. The academic health system was also recognized by Newsweek as one of America’s Best Maternity Care Hospitals for 2021.

Unique to the U.S. News site, participating hospital profiles include a variety of relevant offerings for parents-to-be, including key measures of safety, services and amenities, such as private rooms, valet parking and child-birthing classes. Participating hospitals responded to a survey from the U.S. News health analysis team in spring of 2021 which reflects data from 2019. Participation was voluntary.

While this evaluation looks at hospital data relating to uncomplicated pregnancies, not high-risk pregnancies, UCI Health provides the only combined top-level perinatal and neonatal program in Orange County and is fully equipped with the technology and specialists to manage high-risk pregnancies and at-risk fetuses. 

About U.S. News & World Report: U.S. News & World Report is the global leader in quality rankings that empower citizens, consumers, business leaders and policy officials to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives. A multifaceted digital media company with Education, Health, Money, Travel, Cars, News and 360 Reviews platforms, U.S. News provides rankings, independent reporting, data journalism, consumer advice and U.S. News Live events. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

UCI Health is the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine, and the only academic health system in Orange County. Patients can access UCI Health at primary and specialty care offices across Orange County and at its main campus, UCI Medical Center in Orange, Calif. The 459-bed acute care hospital, listed among America’s Best Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report for 21 consecutive years, provides tertiary and quaternary care, ambulatory and specialty medical clinics, behavioral health and rehabilitation services. UCI Medical Center is home to Orange County’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program and American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center and regional burn center. UCI Health serves a region of nearly 4 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.