Advocate Christ Among Best Hospitals For Maternity Care

OAK LAWN, IL — Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn landed among the best hospitals in Illinois to have a baby. U.S. News & World Report this week released its inaugural list of Best Hospitals For Maternity. The list recognizes 237 hospitals across the United States that are high-performing when it comes to maternity care.
Fifteen Illinois hospitals made the 2021 "high performing" list out of 24 that participated:

• Alton Memorial Hospital, Alton
• Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago
• Rush Copley Medical Center, Aurora
• Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, Barrington
• Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge
• Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago
• Advocate Trinity Hospital, Chicago
• Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital, DeKalb
• Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, Downers Grove
• Advocate Sherman Hospital, Elgin
• Elmhurst Hospital, Elmhurst
• Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital, Lake Forest
• Advocate Condell Medical Center, Libertyville
• Edward Hospital, Naperville
• Advocate Christ Medical Center, Oak Lawn

Advocate Christ’s opened its Women and Infants' Birthing Center in January 2016. The new birthing center offers private labor and delivery suites, high-risk rooms, C-section suites designed for multiple births, and post-delivery suites. The center offers an overall enhancement of the childbirth experience for both low-risk mothers and those moms experiencing a high-risk pregnancy.

The other Illinois hospitals that participated but were not ranked as high performing are:

• Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital, Winfield
• University of Illinois Hospital, Chicago
• Rush University Medical Center, Chicago
• Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital, Palos Heights
• Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital, Geneva
• Advocate South Suburban Hospital, Hazel Crest
• Silver Cross Hospital, New Lenox
• Northwestern Medicine-McHenry, Huntley, Woodstock Hospitals
• Northwestern Medicine Valley West Hospital, Sandwich

Illinois and New Jersey shared the spot for having the second-highest number of highly rated hospitals, with 15 each. California took the top spot, with 33.

To determine the Best Hospitals for Maternity, U.S. News evaluated 2019 data submitted by hospitals relating only to uncomplicated pregnancies. Data on high-risk pregnancies was not considered.

U.S. News looked at five different factors: scheduled early deliveries, C-section rates in low-risk women, newborn complications, rate of exclusive breast milk feeding, and option for vaginal births after a C-section.

U.S. News analyzed data from a total of 2,700 hospitals. Hospitals that performed well had fewer newborn complications, fewer early deliveries and fewer C-sections compared with other hospitals across the nation.

More on the methodology is available on U.S. News' website.