Newsweek names top maternity hospitals

Newsweek and Statista published their 2026 list of America’s Best Maternity Hospitals this week, naming 460 hospitals across the country. (rankings.newsweek.com) The list was announced on April 22 and includes hospitals cited in local and company releases such as Boston Medical Center, UConn John Dempsey Hospital, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, St. Peter’s Health Partners, Mercy Birth Centers, and Kaiser Permanente Vacaville Medical Center. (financialcontent.com, markets.businessinsider.com, joplinglobe.com) Newsweek’s ranking page says the list comes as maternity care access narrows in parts of the United States and hospitals take on a larger role in labor, delivery, and postpartum care. (rankings.newsweek.com) Statista’s ranking page says hospitals were evaluated across five quality dimensions, and Newsweek’s methodology document says the scoring drew on hospital quality metrics, patient experience data, and survey input from health care professionals. (rankings.statista.com, assets.newsweek.com) The methodology document also says the 2026 edition is meant to help patients make a more data-driven choice and give hospitals a benchmark against national peers. The same document lists 461 hospitals in total, while the public ranking page says 460 institutions were recognized. (assets.newsweek.com, rankings.newsweek.com) The rankings arrive as the United States continues to post high maternal risk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 649 women died of maternal causes in 2024, and the maternal mortality rate of 17.9 deaths per 100,000 live births was not significantly lower than 18.6 in 2023. (cdc.gov) The same federal data show large racial gaps: the 2024 maternal mortality rate for Black women was 44.8 per 100,000 live births, compared with 14.2 for white women and 12.1 for Hispanic women. (aha.org, cdc.gov) Federal officials run a separate maternity quality marker through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. CMS says its “Birthing-Friendly” designation identifies hospitals and health systems that report on a maternal morbidity structural measure and meet program requirements tied to evidence-based improvement work. (data.cms.gov, cms.gov) That means the Newsweek list can point patients toward hospitals that invest in maternity care, but it does not by itself show how a hospital handles insurance barriers, postpartum follow-up, or racial inequities in outcomes. (assets.newsweek.com, data.cms.gov) For families choosing where to deliver, the new ranking adds one more national scorecard to a decision that still depends on local access, clinician availability, and what quality measures a hospital is willing to report in public. (rankings.newsweek.com, cms.gov)