The percentage of women undergoing Cesarean deliveries, or C-sections, in the United States continues to rise. According to the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, nearly one in three births occurs via C-section nationwide.
C-sections can prevent injury and death in women who are at higher risk of complicated deliveries or have unexpected complications. They can also prevent injury and death in newborns.
However, C-sections are also linked to increased risk of infections and blood clots, and many women who aren’t at higher risk for delivery complications go through the procedure unnecessarily. Various evidence-based strategies aimed at hospitals and health care providers can help reduce C-sections in low-risk women.
Teams from Sutter Health — the California-based, not-for-profit health system — are implementing these evidence-based strategies to reduce C-sections in their hospitals.
“Reducing unnecessary C-sections is not just about improving statistics — it’s about protecting the health of mothers and babies,” said Dr. Jill Foley, Chair of the Women’s Health Service Line at Sutter. “At Sutter Health, we’re committed to evidence-based care that ensures every birth is as safe and supported as possible.”
Nine Sutter hospitals earned recognition by the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative. The CMQCC acknowledges hospitals for going above and beyond to provide high quality, safe care to California’s mothers, birthing people and newborns.
Sutter hospitals recognized in the annual CMQCC Quality and Engagement Awards include:
Superstar Award: Small Birth Volume
Awarded to hospitals with fewer than 1,000 annual births that exhibited high levels of engagement with the Maternal Data Center, or MDC.
- Sutter Coast Hospital
- Sutter Tracy Community Hospital
Superstar Award: Medium Birth Volume
Awarded to hospitals with between 1,000 and 2,499 annual births that exhibited high levels of engagement with the MDC.
- Sutter’s Memorial Medical Center
Superstar Award: Large Birth Volume
Awarded to hospitals with 2,500 or more annual births that exhibited high levels of engagement with the MDC.
- Sutter’s CPMC – Van Ness Campus
- Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento
Quality & Sustainability Award: NTSV Cesarean Birth Rate
Awarded to hospitals that meet and maintain California’s target rates for their Cesarean birth rate among their Nulliparous, Term, Singleton, and Vertex — also known as NTSV — birthing population for the most recent three consecutive years.
- Sutter Davis Hospital
- Sutter’s Eden Medical Center
Quality & Sustainability Award: Q1 Academy Collaborative
Awarded to hospitals that meet and maintain their target rate for their selected quality initiative in the QI Academy.
- Sutter’s Mills-Peninsula Medical Center
Quality and Sustainability Honor Roll
Awarded to hospitals whose performance reflects an outstanding level of work that goes above and beyond the Quality and Sustainability Award eligibility criteria.
- Sutter Davis Hospital
- Sutter’s Eden Medical Center
- Sutter’s Mills-Peninsula Medical Center
The Sutter Health system NTSV C-section Rate for a rolling 12 months ending June 2025 was 24.2%, below the national rate of 25.3%, according to The Leapfrog Group.
