‘High Performing’ is the highest rating U.S. News & World Report awards for Maternity care.
MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach has been recognized as High Performing in Maternity Care by U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in hospital rankings and consumer advice. This is the highest rating U.S. News awards for this type of care.
Miller Children’s & Women’s was the only children’s and women’s hospital in LA and Orange Counties to receive this recognition during the organization’s first year of publishing a list of Best Hospitals for Maternity Care in 2021 and has consistently achieved this accolade each year.
“Achieving this recognition for a third time is a testament to 
our incredible physicians, nurses and staff, who have dedicated their careers to improving health outcomes for women and their children,” says Dr. Graham Tse, chief medical officer, Miller Children’s & Women’s. “We’re proud to be the only hospital in Los Angeles and Orange Counties to bring together maternity and pediatric specialty services under one roof to keep the family unit connected – which is crucially important when high-risk maternity care, pediatric specialty and neonatal intensive care are needed by mom and baby.”
U.S. News & World Report evaluated hospitals from across the nation that provide high-quality labor and delivery services and submitted detailed data to the publication for analysis; 680 hospitals, an all-time high, participated in this year’s U.S. News survey. Fewer than half – 46% – of all hospitals that offer maternity care and participated in the survey received a High Performing designation.
The U.S. News Best Hospitals for Maternity Care methodology 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, early elective delivery rates, birthing-friendly practices and transparency on racial/ethnic disparities, among other measures.
Over the last several years, Miller Children’s & Women’s has done significant work to progress birth equity, particularly for women of color, which not only improves the patient experience, but health outcomes for mom and baby.
Earlier this year, the maternity team closed out phase 1 of its birth health equity project that demonstrated that more than 90% of nurses had completed respectful maternal care training, which is an approach to care that emphasizes the fundamental rights of women, newborns, and families, promoting equitable access to evidence-based care while recognizing unique needs and preferences. Part of the training included implementing an initiative, called “Commit to Sit,” where nurses take the opportunity to sit and get to know their patient better and learn what her objectives and goals are for her labor and birth experience.
Now, the maternity team is working on phase 2 of the project that explores the use of technology to gather patient experience data and spread respectful maternal care behaviors across all members of the care team.