Newsweek has honored UVA Medical Center, UVA Women’s Services and UVA Children’s on the publication’s Best Maternity Hospitals 2021 list for providing safe, high-quality care for mothers and newborns.
Hospitals were recognized based on the results of the 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Survey conducted by The Leapfrog Group, an independent nonprofit that monitors the quality and safety of hospitals.
To be recognized as a Best Maternity Hospital, healthcare organizations had to meet several standards that include:
- Low rates of early elective deliveries, which pose health risks for both new mothers and babies.
- Low rates of Cesarean deliveries for first-time mothers delivering a single, full-term baby in the head-down position.
- When babies are delivered by a Cesarean, using standardized techniques to prevent blood clots in new mothers.
- Low rates of episiotomies, or incisions made in the birth canal during a delivery.
- Testing babies for high levels of bilirubin, a substance that can highlight a baby is at higher risk for disabilities.