Choosing where to give birth typically comes down to what hospital is most convenient to your home, where your obstetrician practices and your insurance company’s provider network.
Now, the Biden administration has given expectant parents another factor to consider: whether their hospital has won the government’s new “birthing friendly” designation.
But don’t worry — a birthing-friendly hospital won’t be hard to find: According to data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and March of Dimes, most U.S. hospitals that deliver babies have been awarded this designation.. And that raises some questions about the rigor of the administration’s tests for the designation. “I guess this is a good first start, but it’s a quite weak standard,” said Kathleen SimpsonThe Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing
The Health 202 was produced by The Washington Post in collaboration with KFF Health News.
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The list includes Georgetown University Hospital and other major health systems in the D.C. region that provide maternity care, such as George Washington University Hospital and Howard University Hospital. Sibley Memorial and MedStar Washington Hospital Centre also made the cut.
