SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Several San Diego County hospitals have been named by U.S. News & World Report among the top hospitals in the United States for maternity care for 2025.
The U.S. News & World Report has released its list of the top high-performing hospitals for maternity and prenatal care for 2025 based on hospital ratings.
In California, 71 of 99 hospitals that were evaluated made it to the list of high-performing hospitals. Of those, 9 San Diego County hospitals made the list.
U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals for Maternity Care (Uncomplicated Pregnancy) near San Diego:
- UC San Diego Health-La Jolla and Hillcrest Hospitals (La Jolla)
- Kaiser Permanente San Diego Zion and San Diego Medical Center (San Diego)
- Scripps Mercy Hospital (San Diego)
- Sharp Grossmont Hospital (La Mesa)
- Scripps Memorial Hospital-Encinitas (Encinitas)
- Palomar Medical Center Escondido (Escondido)
- Scripps La Jolla Hospitals (La Jolla)
- Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women and Newborns (San Diego)
- Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center (Chula Vista)
U.S. News said an all-time high of 817 hospitals were evaluated and only half of those hospitals made the list.
The following 10 metropolitan areas, in alphabetical order, have the greatest number of Best Hospitals for Maternity Care in the U.S.:
- Chicago
- Dallas-Fort Worth
- Denver
- Detroit
- Los Angeles
- New York
- Philadelphia
- Riverside-San Bernardino
- San Francisco
- Seattle
“With a record-breaking number of hospitals evaluated, U.S. News’ 2025 Best Hospitals for Maternity Care ratings represent the most comprehensive resource yet for expectant parents,” said Jennifer Winston, Ph.D., health data scientist at U.S. News. “These high-performing hospitals showcase exceptional care for expectant parents, demonstrating significantly lower C-section rates and severe unexpected newborn complications compared to hospitals not recognized by U.S. News.”
U.S. News says it evaluates how well hospitals perform in childbirth using C-section rates, newborn severe complication rates, breast milk feeding rates, routine birth after cesarean delivery (VBAC) rates, episiotomy rates, whether a hospital meets new federal criteria for “birthing-friendly” practices, and whether a hospital tracked and reported their outcomes for patients of different races and ethnicities.