The Denver metropolitan area has the third greatest number of best hospitals for maternity care in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 ratings.
Denver’s rating beat out other, larger metros including Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and Seattle, among others.
Eight of the 12 hospitals examined across the Denver metro area were rated “high performing.”
“As the only hospital in Jefferson County that delivers babies, our caregivers at Intermountain Health Lutheran Hospital take great pride in how they partner with new mothers whether it’s education on breastfeeding and safe sleep practices to care throughout labor and delivery,” Intermountain Health President Andrea Burch said in a statement.
“When something unexpected arises, our neonatal intensive care units are present to care for even the littlest of patients.”
Intermountain Health has more than 30 hospitals in five states, including Denver. Intermountain Health had two facilities receive “high performing” status.
The high performers were:
• Intermountain Health Lutheran
• St. Anthony North
• UCHealth Longs Peak
• Sky Ridge Medical Center
• UCHealth Highlands Ranch
• UCHealth Greeley
• Intermountain Health Platte Valley
• Boulder Community Health-Foothills
“Our team uses a holistic, family-centered and culturally sensitive approach that ensures both physical and emotional wellbeing of the patient,” Jessie Thruber-Dean, St. Anthony North’s chief nursing officer, said in a statement.
Thruber-Dean added: “This recognition also signifies a commitment to addressing the needs of our expanding community in Westminster, ensuring that maternal and infant health services are accessible, inclusive and culturally competent.”
Denver Health — the county’s health care safety net — was evaluated, but not rated as high performing.
Officials with Denver Health did not respond to an email seeking comment.
U.S. News — which ranks hospitals on a variety of specialties — first began evaluating maternity care hospitals in 2021 for those that submitted labor and delivery data to the publication.
The publication reviewed 817 hospitals nationally.
Among the high-performing hospitals:
• Have C-section rates 22% lower than those hospitals not recognized.
• Severe unexpected newborn complication rates were 44% lower.
• Breast milk feeding rates were 12% higher.
“With a record-breaking number of hospitals evaluated, U.S. News’ 2025 Best Hospitals for Maternity Care ratings represent the most comprehensive resource yet for expectant parents,” Jennifer Winston, health data scientist at U.S. News, said in a statement.
“These high-performing hospitals showcase exceptional care for expectant parents, demonstrating significantly lower C-section rates and severe unexpected newborn complications compared to hospitals not recognized by U.S. News.”
The ranking relied on C-section rates in lower-risk pregnancies, severe unexpected newborn complication rates, exclusive breast milk feeding rates as well as reporting on racial disparities, among other measures.
Over the past decade, Colorado has averaged more than 63,000 live births annually, state health department data shows. That’s down from the previous decade in which Colorado averaged about 68,000 live births.
Parents-to-be can look up their local hospitals’ performance at health.usnews.com.