LISTEN: U.S. News & World Report is recognizing seven Georgia hospitals for maternity care quality and nine for maternity care access. That’s more than double last year’s number. GPB’s Ellen Eldridge has more.
Last year, Georgia had two of the best hospitals for maternity care and one top maternity care access hospital, according to U.S. News & World Report.
There are more than double that in 2025.
Maternity care access hospitals provide good quality care to communities that might not have access to maternity care otherwise, health data scientist Jennifer Winston said.
"So, they're really the last bastion against their community becoming a maternity care desert," she said.
Georgia’s best maternity care hospitals met high standards for a number of metrics, such as preterm birth and, "Most heavily weighed C-section and severe unexpected newborn complications for that recognition," Winston said.
The state's seven best hospitals are:
The state has made significant improvement in low-risk Cesarean births since last year, but Georgia still ranks 45th for preterm birth with a rate near 12%.
