Massachusetts Cesarean Rates, 2008

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Sorted by cesarean rate 

Location	Facility	Total Births	LBW	Public Payment for Delivery	Adequate Prenatal Care	Total C/S
Methuen	Caritas Holy Family Hospital & Medical Center	1,198	3.7	36.2%	76.8%	47.4%
Melrose	Melrose-Wakefield Hospital	1,226	5.2	30.2%	89.9%	45.7%
Weymouth	South Shore Hospital	3,649	6.5	17.5%	92.0%	43.9%
Framingham	Metrowest Medical Center (Framingham Union Campus)	1,714	5.7	43.5%	88.3%	41.8%
Brockton	Brockton Hospital	1,232	6.7	66.0%	79.9%	41.1%
Boston	Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center	5,086	10.9	19.4%	79.2%	40.8%
Boston	Tufts Medical Center	1,319	26.3	42.3%	90.0%	39.4%
Attleboro	Sturdy Memorial Hospital	968	2.7	15.8%	83.7%	38.6%
Concord	Emerson Hospital	1,143	5.4	6.8%	73.6%	38.1%
Southbridge	Harrington Memorial Hospital	345	3.8	52.8%	83.2%	38.0%
New Bedford	St. Luke’s Hospital	1,520	7.7	53.4%	67.7%	37.9%
Brockton	Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center	952	6.3	57.4%	65.4%	37.8%
Falmouth	Falmouth Hospital	616	4.3	41.4%	86.5%	37.6%
Norwood	Caritas Norwood Hospital	562	2.7	28.0%	60.5%	37.2%
Newton	Newton Wellesley Hospital	3,750	4.6	3.3%	79.3%	37.1%
Fall River	Charlton Memorial Hospital	1,686	6.5	53.7%	88.7%	36.5%
Lowell	Saints Memorial Medical Ctr.(St. John’s Campus)- No births after 4/1/2008	164	2.1	45.3%	81.1%	36.5%
Winchester	Winchester Hospital	1,914	7	5.2%	84.5%	36.3%
Nantucket	Nantucket Cottage Hospital	147	2.1	45.6%	86.6%	36.1%
Lowell	Lowell General Hospital	2,318	6.3	44.5%	71.4%	35.8%
Boston	Caritas St.  Elizabeth’s Medical Center of Boston	1,136	13.1	27.4%	85.4%	35.6%
Boston	Brigham & Women’s Hospital	8,115	11.5	19.8%	95.2%	35.2%
Plymouth	Jordan Hospital	711	4.5	33.1%	87.5%	34.9%
Beverly	Beverly Hospital	2,092	5.2	32.5%	95.6%	34.8%
Newburyport	Anna Jaques Hospital	726	5.6	25.4%	87.9%	34.7%
Milford	Milford Regional Medical Center	995	5.1	28.1%	93.1%	34.6%
Taunton	Morton Hospital	521	3.6	50.6%	68.4%	34.4%
Barnstable	Cape Cod Hospital	904	3.5	48.7%	82.0%	32.3%
Lawrence	Lawrence General Hospital	1,711	5.6	63.7%	73.3%	32.2%
Salem	North Shore Medical Center Salem Hospital	1,677	5.7	50.4%	72.6%	32.2%
Worcester	Saint Vincent Hospital	2,025	4	21.5%	86.2%	32.2%
Springfield	Baystate Medical Center	4,239	12.3	50.0%	75.5%	32.1%
Great Barrington	Fairview Hospital	179	2.8	46.4%	85.5%	31.8%
Boston	Massachusetts General Hospital	3,624	10.2	29.1%	87.1%	31.5%
Ware	Baystate Mary Lane Hospital	180	4.5	61.6%	81.1%	31.1%
Boston	Boston Medical Center	2,417	9.7	79.8%	71.9%	30.1%
Pittsfield	Berkshire Medical Center	717	5.9	47.3%	70.4%	30.0%
Northampton	Cooley Dickinson Hospital	846	3.1	25.4%	92.6%	29.3%
Worcester	UMASS Memorial Medical Center (West Campus)	4,217	10.9	38.3%	70.8%	28.7%
Oak Bluffs	Martha’s Vineyard Hospital	165	0.6	47.9%	92.1%	28.5%
Cambridge	Cambridge Hospital	1,337	2.6	71.1%	78.3%	28.3%
Cambridge	Mount Auburn Hospital	2,057	3.5	17.6%	87.3%	27.4%
Springfield	Mercy Medical Center	1,339	4	57.5%	77.7%	25.5%
Greenfield	Baystate Franklin Medical Center	470	3.4	43.6%	79.8%	24.5%
Leominster	Leominster Hospital	1,096	4	48.0%	84.0%	22.2%
Holyoke	Holyoke Hospital	663	5.9	64.9%	68.2%	21.6%
Wareham	Tobey Hospital	435	2.8	39.6%	91.3%	19.1%
North Adams	North Adams Regional Hospital	269	3.7	54.6%	90.0%	18.2%
Gardner	Heywood Memorial Hospital	551	4	45.5%	80.3%	16.2%
Cambridge	Cambridge Birth Center	127	0	21.3%	64.6%	0.0%
Beverly	North Shore Birth Center	102	0	16.8%	92.0%	0.0%
Other	Other Hospitals	13	16.7	28.6%	50.0%	18.2%
Other	Home, En route and Dr. Office	377	6	24.0%	55.4%	0.0%

Sorted by location 

Location	Facility	Total Births	LBW	Public Payment for Delivery	Adequate Prenatal Care	Total C/S
Attleboro	Sturdy Memorial Hospital	968	2.7	15.8%	83.7%	38.6%
Barnstable	Cape Cod Hospital	904	3.5	48.7%	82.0%	32.3%
Beverly	Beverly Hospital	2,092	5.2	32.5%	95.6%	34.8%
Beverly	North Shore Birth Center	102	0	16.8%	92.0%	0.0%
Boston	Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center	5,086	10.9	19.4%	79.2%	40.8%
Boston	Boston Medical Center	2,417	9.7	79.8%	71.9%	30.1%
Boston	Brigham & Women’s Hospital	8,115	11.5	19.8%	95.2%	35.2%
Boston	Caritas St.  Elizabeth’s Medical Center of Boston	1,136	13.1	27.4%	85.4%	35.6%
Boston	Massachusetts General Hospital	3,624	10.2	29.1%	87.1%	31.5%
Boston	Tufts Medical Center	1,319	26.3	42.3%	90.0%	39.4%
Brockton	Brockton Hospital	1,232	6.7	66.0%	79.9%	41.1%
Brockton	Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center	952	6.3	57.4%	65.4%	37.8%
Cambridge	Cambridge Birth Center	127	0	21.3%	64.6%	0.0%
Cambridge	Cambridge Hospital	1,337	2.6	71.1%	78.3%	28.3%
Cambridge	Mount Auburn Hospital	2,057	3.5	17.6%	87.3%	27.4%
Concord	Emerson Hospital	1,143	5.4	6.8%	73.6%	38.1%
Fall River	Charlton Memorial Hospital	1,686	6.5	53.7%	88.7%	36.5%
Falmouth	Falmouth Hospital	616	4.3	41.4%	86.5%	37.6%
Framingham	Metrowest Medical Center (Framingham Union Campus)	1,714	5.7	43.5%	88.3%	41.8%
Gardner	Heywood Memorial Hospital	551	4	45.5%	80.3%	16.2%
Great Barrington	Fairview Hospital	179	2.8	46.4%	85.5%	31.8%
Greenfield	Baystate Franklin Medical Center	470	3.4	43.6%	79.8%	24.5%
Holyoke	Holyoke Hospital	663	5.9	64.9%	68.2%	21.6%
Lawrence	Lawrence General Hospital	1,711	5.6	63.7%	73.3%	32.2%
Leominster	Leominster Hospital	1,096	4	48.0%	84.0%	22.2%
Lowell	Lowell General Hospital	2,318	6.3	44.5%	71.4%	35.8%
Lowell	Saints Memorial Medical Ctr.(St. John’s Campus)- No births after 4/1/2008	164	2.1	45.3%	81.1%	36.5%
Melrose	Melrose-Wakefield Hospital	1,226	5.2	30.2%	89.9%	45.7%
Methuen	Caritas Holy Family Hospital & Medical Center	1,198	3.7	36.2%	76.8%	47.4%
Milford	Milford Regional Medical Center	995	5.1	28.1%	93.1%	34.6%
Nantucket	Nantucket Cottage Hospital	147	2.1	45.6%	86.6%	36.1%
New Bedford	St. Luke’s Hospital	1,520	7.7	53.4%	67.7%	37.9%
Newburyport	Anna Jaques Hospital	726	5.6	25.4%	87.9%	34.7%
Newton	Newton Wellesley Hospital	3,750	4.6	3.3%	79.3%	37.1%
North Adams	North Adams Regional Hospital	269	3.7	54.6%	90.0%	18.2%
Northampton	Cooley Dickinson Hospital	846	3.1	25.4%	92.6%	29.3%
Norwood	Caritas Norwood Hospital	562	2.7	28.0%	60.5%	37.2%
Oak Bluffs	Martha’s Vineyard Hospital	165	0.6	47.9%	92.1%	28.5%
Pittsfield	Berkshire Medical Center	717	5.9	47.3%	70.4%	30.0%
Plymouth	Jordan Hospital	711	4.5	33.1%	87.5%	34.9%
Salem	North Shore Medical Center Salem Hospital	1,677	5.7	50.4%	72.6%	32.2%
Southbridge	Harrington Memorial Hospital	345	3.8	52.8%	83.2%	38.0%
Springfield	Baystate Medical Center	4,239	12.3	50.0%	75.5%	32.1%
Springfield	Mercy Medical Center	1,339	4	57.5%	77.7%	25.5%
Taunton	Morton Hospital	521	3.6	50.6%	68.4%	34.4%
Ware	Baystate Mary Lane Hospital	180	4.5	61.6%	81.1%	31.1%
Wareham	Tobey Hospital	435	2.8	39.6%	91.3%	19.1%
Weymouth	South Shore Hospital	3,649	6.5	17.5%	92.0%	43.9%
Winchester	Winchester Hospital	1,914	7	5.2%	84.5%	36.3%
Worcester	Saint Vincent Hospital	2,025	4	21.5%	86.2%	32.2%
Worcester	UMASS Memorial Medical Center (West Campus)	4,217	10.9	38.3%	70.8%	28.7%
Other	Other Hospitals	13	16.7	28.6%	50.0%	18.2%
Other	Home, En route and Dr. Office	377	6	24.0%	55.4%	0.0%

Facility=A licensed maternity facility is a medical unit licensed by the Commonwealth for the care of women during pregnancy and childbirth.

Total Births=Occurrence Births. A birth occurring in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, regardless of the residency of the mother. For individual cities/towns, an occurrence birth represents any birth occurring in that city/town, regardless of the residence of the mother. The percentages of cesareans provided in this row are based on occurrence births and may differ from data presented elsewhere in this book that are based on resident births.

LBW= Low Birth Weight. Less than 2,500 grams (5.5 lbs.) Public payment for delivery includes Medicaid/MassHealth, Commonhealth, Medicare, Healthy Start, other government programs, and free care.

Adequate Prenatal Care=Based on the APNCU Index.

SOURCE: Massachusetts Department of Public Health  

Bureau of Health Information, Statistics, Research, and Evaluation 

Division of Research and Epidemiology

http://www.mass.gov/Eeohhs2/docs/dph/research_epi/birth_report_2008.pdf

Comments

[D Grace]

Yikes. I thought Holy Family's rate was only 39% but I just realized that the Mass.gov website I was using was last updated in 2005. I'm thinking about giving birth at Holy Family because it's right up the street and there is a team of an OB and 2 midwives who work there who support natural, spontaneous childbirth. I was concerned and confused about how they could practice in a hospital with a 39% CS rate, but I don't know if I'm brave enough to set foot in a maternity ward with a 1 in 2 chance of C-section! Wow... anyone have advice? Is choosing a provider more important than choosing where to give birth?
I called the hospital a few weeks ago to ask some questions and found out: there are bath tubs and birth balls, the midwives let you eat and drink, support hypnobirthing, don't require IV fluids unless necessary, allow intermittent monitoring, allow you to push in different positions, and support immediate skin-to-skin contact. All that info made me feel safe, but now I'm doubting myself because of the CS rate.
I asked the nurse why the CS rate was so high and she got really uncomfortable. She said she couldn't give me an answer over the phone, but she could give me the director's phone number if I wanted to discuss the rate with him. Then, she said that it's hard to judge a hospital by its overall CS rate because "there might be one or two old fashioned OBs who are driving up the rate." Hmmmm. Is it possible that one or tow OBs lead to a 47% rate, but I could still have my natural, spontaneous birth there?

[JP]

Sadly, I'm counted in the 37.1% rate for Newton Wellesley Hospital in 2008.
@ D Grace, my impression about NW was the same which is why I received care from a group of midwives who deliver there. However, the fact is, it's still a hospital whose bottom line is to cover their *ss. Unbeknown to me, there were guidelines in place that required the midwives to involve an OB if X, Y or Z situations arise. That's precisely the situation I found myself in, and despite an extremely supportive midwife and doula, ended up with an unnecessary CS. If I bring another child into this world, it will be at home!

[ANaturalAdvocate]

D Grace: You know, it's really a combination of the place and the provider. I know a woman just recently who had a VBA2C at a local hospital where "no one" does VBACs and the overall section rate is over 50%. Things worked out for her, with a supportive provider and a lot of fight in her. :) If your provider is supportive, that's obviously the first thing, but sometimes hospital policies work against you as well. I recommend meeting with the providers you're interested in working with, detailing your concerns (including about the high rate), and see what they say. Good luck in your search. :)

[Kassedi]

My daughter was born at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield they have way to high of a ceserean section rate for a small county like ours who has another two small hospitals in north county and south county who have lower c section rates.

[D Grace]

Heywood Memorial Hospital in Gardner has a 16.2% overall rate and 7.6% rate for primary CS. I went to their website to see how they kept their rate so low, and I am so jealous of any woman who can birth there! Free doulas for everyone, aromatherapy, music therapy, hydrotherapy, and postpartum massage. Imagine?!

[Becky]

D Grace, I had a friend just give birth in a hospital with a 41.3% section rate here in AL. She had a natural birth--no pit, no epi, delayed clamping, etc.-- and was respected by her providers. This hospital has 1:1 nursing care for their laboring moms, and is working towards being mother-friendly (they obviously have a long way to go, with a 41% rate!). So, it can be done...I think you just need to be very careful with talking to your specific providers. I hope your search goes well, and you have a healthy birth! :)