Eight Sutter hospitals earned recognition from the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative for advancing evidence-based maternal care and improving outcomes for parents and babies.

Choosing where and how to bring a baby into the world is one of the most important decisions families can make. Across California, Sutter Health maternity teams are using data, evidence-based practices and coordinated care to help patients have safe deliveries, avoid unnecessary C-section births and achieve the best possible outcomes for both parent and baby.

That commitment recently earned eight Sutter hospitals recognition from the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative, which honored organizations demonstrating strong performance, sustained quality improvement and engagement in maternity safety initiatives. Sutter hospitals use the Maternal Data Center to monitor maternity care outcomes and identify opportunities to improve perinatal quality.

“Partnership and communication with our senior leaders is critical,” said Suzanne Bressler, clinical performance improvement consultant at Sutter. “We review the NTSV (Nulliparous, Term, Singleton, Vertex) rates and ask them what is working in their units and where they need assistance. We have put a lot of tools and resources in place for our physicians, nurses and patients to provide education about the safest way to deliver their baby.”

Some of those tools include:

• Labor Support Checklist: This tool helps clinicians engage and empower patients during labor and delivery by offering supportive, evidence-based options tailored to each patient’s needs and preferences.
• Outpatient Cervical Ripening: Sutter uses evidence-based medications and tools to help prepare the cervix in the early stages of labor, allowing eligible patients to remain at home until they are ready for hospital-based delivery.
• Nitrous Oxide: Offered during labor, nitrous oxide can provide short-acting pain relief and may be an option for patients who want an alternative to an epidural.
• Movement and Positioning During Labor: Sutter care teams are knowledgeable about techniques that may help support labor progress. Options may include using a birthing ball, walking while monitored, changing positions and using a shower or hydrotherapy when available.

The CMQCC recognition comes at a time when C-section rates continue to rise nationally. Federal data shows the U.S. rate of C-sections increased for the fourth consecutive year in 2023, underscoring the importance of evidence-based approaches to support safe, appropriate care during pregnancy and childbirth.

“Reducing unnecessary C-sections is a key part of Sutter’s commitment to safe, high-quality maternity care,” said Dr. Jill Foley, chair of the Women’s Health Service Line at Sutter Health. “By using data and evidence-based practices, our teams are helping improve outcomes and support healthier beginnings for patients and families across our communities.”

The CMQCC awards recognize measurable progress across several areas of maternity care, from reducing C-section rates to implementing maternal safety standards and strengthening quality improvement practices.

Hospitals Recognized for Excellence in Maternal Care

Early Implementers

Awarded to hospitals that implemented a new Maternal Data Center measure or reporting feature:

• Sutter’s CPMC – Van Ness Campus
• Sutter’s Memorial Hospital Los Banos

Superstar Large Birth Volume

Awarded to hospitals with 2,500 or more annual births that exhibited high levels of engagement with the Maternal Data Center:

• Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento

Quality and Sustainability: Nulliparous, Term, Singleton, Vertex Cesarean Birth Rate (Honor Roll)

Awarded to hospitals that achieved a target C-section rate of 23.6% or lower among their NTSV birthing population from 2023 through 2025:

• Sutter Davis Hospital
• Sutter’s Eden Medical Center

Quality and Sustainability: Maternal Safety Standards Implementation

Awarded to hospitals that documented implementation of the Maternal Safety Standards and key practices for conditions such as hypertension and obstetric hemorrhage, per guidance by the Maternal Data Center’s QI Initiatives Tool:

• Sutter Lakeside Hospital
• Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center of Santa Cruz

Quality and Sustainability: QI Academy Collaborative Hospitals (Honor Roll)

Awarded to hospitals that met and sustained quality improved goals through CMQCC’s QI Academy, a yearlong mentorship program in which staff receive coaching on applying evidence-based quality improvement techniques to a hospital-selected quality initiative:

• Sutter 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 Mills Peninsula Medical Center

Together, the recognitions reflect Sutter’s ongoing investment in data-informed, evidence-based maternity care designed to support safer births and healthier beginnings for families throughout Northern California.

Learn why families choose Sutter for pregnancy and childbirth: https://www.sutterhealth.org/health/pregnancy-baby-guide.