OHD Learn · Hospital Quality Programs

Maternal Health

How CMS measures the quality of obstetric care — cesarean delivery rates, severe maternal morbidity, and unexpected complications in newborns.

📅 Quarterly & annual updates 6 measures Not in star rating
What This Program Covers

A growing measure set targeting the safety of childbirth and obstetric care.

The Maternal Health program is one of the newer additions to hospital quality reporting. It was established to address a persistent and well-documented gap: the United States has significantly higher rates of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity than comparable high-income countries, and the variation across hospitals is substantial.

The measures target specific, actionable aspects of obstetric care — from the rate of early elective deliveries before 39 weeks (associated with higher newborn complications) to the rate of unexpected complications among full-term newborns. These are process and outcome measures that hospitals can directly influence through clinical protocols and care standards.

Maternal Health measures are not currently part of the Overall Hospital Star Rating. They are reported publicly as standalone measures and are intended to drive quality improvement and consumer transparency in obstetric care specifically.

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OHD Maternal Health Report
OpenHealthData has built a dedicated maternal health report surfacing delivery intervention rates, severe maternal morbidity, and newborn complication data at the hospital level. Know Before You Go — the data that matters when choosing where to deliver.
View the Maternal Health Report →
The Measures

Six measures across process, outcome, and newborn safety.

PC-01
Elective Delivery Before 39 Weeks
The percentage of elective deliveries performed before 39 completed weeks of gestation. Early elective deliveries are associated with higher rates of newborn complications including respiratory distress and NICU admission. Evidence supports waiting to 39 weeks when there is no medical indication for earlier delivery.
Refreshed quarterly
PC-05
Exclusive Breast Milk Feeding
The percentage of newborns who receive breast milk exclusively during the hospital stay. This is a process and outcome measure tied to both newborn health and the hospital's support for breastfeeding — lactation support, skin-to-skin protocols, and avoidance of formula supplementation without medical indication.
Refreshed annually
SM-7
Severe Maternal Morbidity
A composite measure of severe complications during delivery hospitalization — including blood transfusion, hysterectomy, acute renal failure, sepsis, mechanical ventilation, and other life-threatening events. Derived from hospital claims data rather than self-reported data.
Refreshed annually
ePC-02
Cesarean Birth
The risk-adjusted rate of cesarean births among low-risk pregnancies (nulliparous women with a term, singleton, vertex fetus). This population is selected specifically because cesarean delivery in this group is largely discretionary — variation reflects hospital practice patterns more than patient complexity.
Refreshed annually
ePC-07a
Unexpected Complications in Term Newborns — Overall
The rate of unexpected complications — including severe respiratory distress, birth trauma, neonatal seizures, and other serious events — among newborns born at 37 weeks or later who were not expected to be high-risk. This overall measure captures the full population of term newborns.
Refreshed annually
ePC-07b
Unexpected Complications in Term Newborns — C-Section
The same unexpected complication measure, stratified specifically for term newborns delivered by cesarean section. Separating this population allows comparison of newborn outcomes by delivery method within a hospital and across hospitals.
Refreshed annually
Sources
  1. CMS Hospital Downloadable Database Data Dictionary, January 2026 — CMS Provider Data Catalog
  2. Maternal Health Measures — QualityNet.cms.gov