Desert Regional Medical Center Reports One of the Lowest C-section Rates in California

From Desert Regional Medical Center:

PALM SPRINGS, CA – Desert Regional Medical Center has one of the lowest Cesarean-section rates in California, according to new statewide data. Desert Regional was among 104 hospitals recognized by California Health and Human Services Secretary Diana Dooley for meeting or exceeding the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ 2020 goal for C-section rates three years early.

The maternal performance data reported by Smart Care California (SCC) showed that Desert Regional’s 2015 C-section rate among low-risk, first-time mothers – known as the NTSV Cesarean birth rate – was 15.8 percent, which earned the hospital a “superior” rating from SCC. Desert Regional was one of only 17 hospitals in California to receive this rating. The hospital’s NTSV C-section rate was the sixth-lowest in the state.

C-sections can save lives in certain circumstances, but the procedure poses serious risks to mothers—higher rates of hemorrhage, transfusions, infection and blood clots—and babies—higher rates of infection, respiratory complications and neonatal intensive care unit stays. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ 2010 report, “Healthy People,” which set 10-year goals and objectives for health promotion and disease prevention for the nation, established a 2020 benchmark of 23.9 percent for NTSV C-sections. The national average is currently 27.3 percent.

“The doctors who deliver at Desert Regional Medical Center are very concerned about C-section rates," said Ralph Steiger, MD, director of maternal-fetal medicine at Desert Regional. “They are committed to careful monitoring of mothers in the hospital so we can avoid unnecessary C-sections and the complications that may create. That has made a real difference in achieving a low rate for the hospital.”

Stefanie Sonico, RN, director of the Women & Infants Center at Desert Regional, credited Dr. Steiger’s leadership and the teamwork between nurses and physicians that creates an environment committed to the best care for moms and their babies.

“We are so very proud of this designation,” Sonico said. “It is especially important when you consider that we are a facility that cares for so many moms who are high-risk during their pregnancy.”

The Women & Infants Center at Desert Regional is the only facility in the Coachella Valley with an in-house clinic for high-risk moms. The hospital also is home to the Coachella Valley’s only intensive care unit for newborns.

SCC is a coalition of public and private health care purchasers, including CalPERS, Covered California, Medi-Cal and the Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH), that collectively cover more than 16 million people statewide — or 40 percent of all Californians. The group is committed to reducing the number of unnecessary C-sections at hospitals across the state. The Hospital Quality Institute (HQI) is working collaboratively with the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (CMQCC) to help all hospitals meet the Healthy People 2020 goal within the next three years.

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