The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has designated Flagstaff Medical Center and Verde Valley Medical Center as “Birthing-Friendly” hospitals.
The designation means a hospital participated in a statewide or national perinatal quality improvement collaborative program and implemented evidence-based care to improve maternal health outcomes. This designation is new for each NAH facility as CMS introduced the program Nov. 2023.
Patients can look for the Birthing-Friendly icon when researching hospitals on the Care Compare website by opening this interactive map to see which U.S. hospitals, including FMC and VVMC, have received the “Birthing-Friendly” designation.
“It’s important to center CMS’ work in actions that are results-driven and empower the people we serve. The ‘Birthing-Friendly’ designation is part of our ongoing efforts to improve maternal health in the U.S.,” said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure.
“By highlighting hospitals and health systems demonstrating a strong commitment to maternity care quality, the ‘Birthing-Friendly’ designation is one powerful example of how we are centering health equity in everything we do. As maternal health inequities persist across the nation, the designation offers a tangible marker of the evidence-based practices that hospitals and health systems can pursue to close these gaps and ultimately provide the kind of care all expectant parents deserve.”