Best Maternity Care Hospitals Include 19 In NJ

NEW JERSEY — Nineteen hospitals in New Jersey made the grade in a new ranking of the Best Hospitals for Maternity Care for 2023-24 released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report.

The ranking of 680 hospitals nationwide is a guide for parents making one of the most important decisions of their lives — where their baby will be born. Each hospital participating in the U.S. News survey received a scorecard describing their performance on a checklist of items parents look for when choosing where to have their baby.

Jennifer Winston, a health data scientist for U.S. News, said the top hospitals in the survey are those with a “high performing” designation for care given to patients with uncomplicated pregnancies. These hospitals had Cesarean Section rates of 26 percent or lower and newborn complication rates of 37 percent or lower, Winston explained in a news release.

Of the 19 New Jersey hospitals that participated in the U.S. News maternity services survey, the following received the high-performing designation:

• Capital Health Medical Center-Hopewell - offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Allows Partners To Stay Overnight, Has a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Offers Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, and Offers Perinatal Depression Screening and Services
• Cooper University Health Care-Camden - offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Allows Partners To Stay Overnight, Has a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Offers Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, and Offers Perinatal Depression Screening and Services
• Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center - offers Immersive Tub Hydrotheraphy During Labor, Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Allows Partners To Stay Overnight, Has a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Offers Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, and Offers Perinatal Depression Screening and Services
• Englewood Hospital - offers Immersive Tub Hydrotheraphy During Labor, Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Allows Partners To Stay Overnight, Has a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Offers Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, and Offers Perinatal Depression Screening and Services
• Hackensack University Medical Center at Hackensack Meridian Health - offers Immersive Tub Hydrotheraphy During Labor, Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Allows Partners To Stay Overnight, Has a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Offers Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, and Offers Perinatal Depression Screening and Services
• Jefferson Health-Stratford, Cherry Hill and Washington Township - offers Immersive Tub Hydrotheraphy During Labor, Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Allows Partners To Stay Overnight, Has a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Offers Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, and Offers Perinatal Depression Screening and Services
• Monmouth Medical Center-Long Branch Campus - offers Immersive Tub Hydrotheraphy During Labor, Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Allows Partners To Stay Overnight, Has a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Offers Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, and Offers Perinatal Depression Screening and Services
• Morristown Medical Center - Hospital Employs Doulas, Offers Immersive Tub Hydrotheraphy During Labor, Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Allows Partners To Stay Overnight, Has a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Offers Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, and Offers Perinatal Depression Screening and Services
• Ocean University Medical Center at Hackensack Meridian Health - offers Immersive Tub Hydrotheraphy During Labor, Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Allows Partners To Stay Overnight, Has a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Offers Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, and Offers Perinatal Depression Screening and Services
• Overlook Medical Center - offers Immersive Tub Hydrotheraphy During Labor, Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Allows Partners To Stay Overnight, Has a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Offers Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, and Offers Perinatal Depression Screening and Services
• Palisades Medical Center at Hackensack Meridian Health - offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Allows Partners To Stay Overnight, Offers Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, and Offers Perinatal Depression Screening and Services
• Raritan Bay and Old Bridge Medical Centers at Hackensack Meridian Health - offers Immersive Tub Hydrotheraphy During Labor, Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Allows Partners To Stay Overnight, Offers Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, and Offers Perinatal Depression Screening and Services
• Riverview Medical Center at Hackensack Meridian Health - offers Immersive Tub Hydrotheraphy During Labor, Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Allows Partners To Stay Overnight, Offers Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, and Offers Perinatal Depression Screening and Services
• Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital New Brunswick - offers Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Allows Partners To Stay Overnight, Offers Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, and Offers Perinatal Depression Screening and Services
• Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset - offers Immersive Tub Hydrotheraphy During Labor, Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Allows Partners To Stay Overnight, Offers Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, and Offers Perinatal Depression Screening and Services
• Southern Ocean Medical Center at Hackensack Meridian Health - offers Immersive Tub Hydrotheraphy During Labor, Sometimes Has Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Allows Partners To Stay Overnight, Offers Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, and Offers Perinatal Depression Screening and Services
• Virtua Mount Holly Hospital - offers Immersive Tub Hydrotheraphy During Labor, Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Allows Partners To Stay Overnight, Offers Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, and Offers Perinatal Depression Screening and Services
• Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital - offers Immersive Tub Hydrotheraphy During Labor, Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Allows Partners To Stay Overnight, Offers Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, and Offers Perinatal Depression Screening and Services
• Virtua Voorhees Hospital - offers Immersive Tub Hydrotheraphy During Labor, Has a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Childbirth Classes, Private Rooms or Suites, Allows Partners To Stay Overnight, Offers Breastfeeding and Lactation Consultants, and Offers Perinatal Depression Screening and Services

New to the rankings this year is the inaugural “Maternity Care Access Hospitals” list, which highlights 73 hospitals providing services in what otherwise would be maternity care deserts that have “left millions of people without local access to maternity care” in some parts of the country, Winston said.

In New Jersey, Maternity Care Access Hospitals are: Newton Medical Center and Southern Ocean Medical Center at Hackensack Meridian Health.

Other New Jersey hospitals that completed the U.S. News survey, but did not rank as “high performing” were:

• AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center
• CentraState Medical Center
• Chilton Medical Center
• Clara Maass Medical Center
• Community Medical Center-Toms River
• Hunterdon Medical Center
• Jersey City Medical Center
• Jersey Shore University Medical Center at Hackensack Meridian Health
• JFK University Medical Center at Hackensack Meridian Health
• Newark Beth Israel Medical Center
• Newton Medical Center
• St. Clare's Denville Hospital
• St. Peter's University Hospital
• Trinitas Regional Medical Center RWJBH
• Valley Hospital

The hospitals are ranked on objective measures of quality. Including C-section rate, 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. Read more about the methodology.

— Correction: An earlier version of this story omitted RWJ Hospital of New Brunswick