SALINAS, CA (December 2014) – Natividad Medical Center has been named 1 of 33 high performing hospitals in maternity care in California by The California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF). CHCF recently released the findings of reports measuring hospital performance in four key areas of maternity care: low-risk C-section rates, episiotomy rates, rates of exclusive breastfeeding before discharge, and VBAC (vaginal birth after C-section) rates.

"The goal has always been to provide our community with world class perinatal care,” said Dr. Peter Chandler, Medical Director of Natividad’s Obstetrics/Gynecology Department. “We are honored to be recognized for our outcomes along with our partners Stanford and UCSF."

The data of the high performing and low performing hospitals can be found on the CHCF link http://www.chcf.org/publications/2014/11/tale-two-births. A majority (88%) of the 33 hospitals in the high-performing category are in Northern California, and all 12 of the low-performing hospitals are in Southern California. The data include mothers whose pregnancies were nulliparous, term, singleton and vertex (NTSV) — which means the delivery of a single baby (versus twins or triplets) in a head-down position after 37 weeks gestational age to mothers having their first baby.

"High performing" is defined as three or more Superior or Above Average scores and no Average, Below Average, or Poor scores on the four maternity measures available on CalQualityCare.org. "Low performing" is defined as three or more Below Average or Poor scores on the four maternity measures. The studies found a wide variation in hospital performance.

Natividad Medical Center’s perinatal program is a valuable community resource as it is the only local hospital to provide 24/7 in-house provider coverage for OB/GYN, Anesthesia and Neonatology and offers vaginal birth after Cesarean services. Also, Natividad Medical Center’s partnership with UCSF brings UCSF neonatologists to the community so families can stay together locally and still receive expert care.

About Natividad Medical Center
Natividad Medical Center is a Monterey County owned and operated 172 bed acute care hospital providing health care services to the people of the county for more than 128 years. Natividad Medical Center offers inpatient, outpatient, emergency, diagnostic and specialty medical care. NMC provides more than 34,000 patient days each year and more than 47,000 emergency department visits per year. NMC is ranked #1 in newborn deliveries in Monterey County. Natividad is the only teaching hospital on the Central Coast, through its affiliation with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). With a medical staff of more than 228 physicians, Natividad’s mission is to continually monitor and improve the health status of the people, including the vulnerable, in Monterey County through coordinated, affordable, high-quality health care. Natividad is based in Salinas, California. For more information, please call 831-755-4111 or visit www.natividad.com.