US News & World Report Maternity Best HospitalMiller Children’s & Women’s Hospital only children’s and women’s hospital in L.A. and Orange Counties to receive this recognition.

MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach has been recognized as High Performing in 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 Care. Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital is the only hospital of its kind in L.A. and Orange Counties bringing 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.

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-section rates, 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. 

“From common and routine pregnancies, to critical and high-risk pregnancies, the BirthCare Center physicians and staff provide quality, leading care to every patient that comes to us,” says Graham Tse, chief medical officer, Miller Children’s & Women’s. We are uniquely situated to provide the highest-level of care (level IV for maternity and NICU) to both mom and baby. Miller Children’s & Women’s has pediatricians, maternal fetal specialists and neonatologists on-site 24/7. We also have the largest neonatal intensive care unit in the region, complete with a Small Baby Center and an extremely low birth weight program – which cares for newborns weighing less than 1,500 grams (less than three pound) or 32 weeks gestation.” 

The Cherese Mari Laulhere BirthCare Center cares for all pregnancies, whether routine or high risk. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is immediately adjacent to the birth care center and cares for nay newborns who need advanced care. The BirthCare Center, a designated Baby-Friendly birth facility, offers a Perinatal Special Care Unit, specialized transport team, private labor and delivery suites, prenatal education classes and comprehensive lactation support, including an Outpatient Lactation Clinic.

Miller Children’s & Women’s earned a “High Performing” rating in Best Hospitals for Maternity Care, which is the highest rating U.S. News awards for that type of care. Unique to the U.S. News site, participating hospital profiles are a one stop shop and include a variety of relevant offerings for parents-to-be including key measures of safety, alongside services and amenities, like private rooms, valet parking and availability of child birthing classes.

 “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.”

The evaluation looks at hospital data relating to only uncomplicated pregnancies, not high-risk pregnancies. 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. We anticipate updating Best Hospitals for Maternity in summer of 2022, to coincide with the release of the 2022-23 Best Hospitals for Procedures & Conditions ratings.