Cal Hospital Compare, a nonprofit organization, has been providing Californians with objective hospital performance ratings for more than a decade. 141 California hospitals met performance standards in maternity care for 2020, including:
Although integrated midwifery care is an evidence-based intervention to decrease cesarean sections, they are not included in the Cal Hospital Compare.
Here in Sonoma County we have the
The rate of NTSV C-Section at the Birth Center for 2020 was 11%,
about half that of the honor roll hospitals.
For the last five years, California has recognized hospitals that meet or exceed statewide target rates of 23.9 percent for low-risk, first-births (NTSV). 
For mothers, overuse of C-sections can result in higher rates of complications like hemorrhage, transfusions, infection, and blood clots. The surgery also brings risks for babies, including higher rates of infection, respiratory complications, neonatal intensive care unit stays, and lower breastfeeding rates.
Consumer education is also critical to the above efforts. As part of efforts to advance improvements in health care, in 2018 CMQCC, Consumer Reports and the California Health Care Foundation partnered to launch My Birth Matters, a statewide campaign designed to educate expectant mothers about C-section deliveries and encourage conversations between them, their doctor, and their care team.
A third of babies born in the U.S. are delivered by cesarean section, and researchers estimate that about half these surgeries are medically unnecessary. The other half, of course, can be lifesaving surgeries that ensure the safest delivery for a mother and her baby, so it’s impossible to guarantee that you can avoid a C-section. But you can reduce the likelihood that you will need a C-section or end up having one that is not medically necessary, exposing you to specific harms (such as infection), and almost guaranteeing a C-section in subsequent births.