UCSF Health-UCSF Medical Center has again received the highest possible national rating of “high performing” for maternity care by U.S. News & World Report.
The designation is intended to help expectant parents and their healthcare providers identify hospitals that provide high-quality maternity care, with a focus on uncomplicated pregnancies. For the 2026 Best Hospitals for Maternity Care guide, 899 hospitals across the country were evaluated for key maternity and perinatal care data.
UCSF Health was recognized as high performing in a broad range of indicators of excellence in maternity care including minimizing avoidable cesarean sections (C-section); promoting breastfeeding; minimizing the use of episiotomy during childbirth; and supporting vaginal births for pregnant patients who previously had a C-section.
Additionally, UCSF Health was recognized as a “birthing-friendly” hospital that has demonstrated a commitment to improving maternal outcomes.
“UCSF had one of the original National Centers of Excellence in Women’s Health in 1996 and has long been in the vanguard in women’s health,” said Roxanna A. Irani, MD, PhD, high-risk obstetrician and executive medical director for women’s health at UCSF. “This special recognition reflects the leadership, high standards, commitment and expertise of our clinical teams on a daily basis. We’re very proud of our staff and the obstetric care we deliver.”
In July, UCSF Health-UCSF Medical Center was recognized by US News as one of the country’s most distinguished hospitals for adult patient care and earned a ranking on the Honor Roll of the Best Hospitals rankings for 2025-2026. It also tied as the top hospital in California for adult care, No. 6 nationwide in newborn care, and best in the state for cancer, geriatrics, neurology and neurosurgery, pulmonology, and rheumatology.
UCSF Health is consistently cited among the country’s leaders in quality and safety by health care’s most highly regarded rating systems. For three years in a row, UCSF Health has been recognized by three of the nation’s most prestigious quality benchmarking systems — U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals Honor Roll, a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and Vizient Top Performer recognition — and it is the only public academic medical center to receive all three in 2025. UCSF Health has received the gold standard “magnet recognition” in nursing excellence for more than a decade.
About UCSF Health: UCSF Health is recognized worldwide for its innovative patient care, reflecting the latest medical knowledge, advanced technologies and pioneering research. It includes the flagship UCSF Medical Center, which is among the nation’s best hospitals, as well as UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals, with campuses in San Francisco and Oakland; two community hospitals, UCSF Health St. Mary’s and UCSF Health Saint Francis; Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital; UCSF Benioff Children’s Physicians; and the UCSF Faculty Practice. These hospitals serve as the academic medical center of the University of California, San Francisco, which is world-renowned for its graduate-level health sciences education and biomedical research. UCSF Health has affiliations with hospitals and health organizations throughout the Bay Area. Visit www.ucsfhealth.org. Follow UCSF Health on Facebook or on LinkedIn.