New Data Suggests Black Women Are More Likely to Have C-sections in Some Hospitals
Washington, D.C. – The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit calling for better and safer patient care, today released its 2025 Maternity Care Report. The report provides a comprehensive analysis of unique national data from hospitals representing 80% of inpatient beds in the United States—data not available from any other source. Leapfrog reports on key aspects of maternity care, including C-sections, episiotomies and early elective deliveries, as well as the availability of patient-requested services such as doula support, certified midwives and more. As the only organization that publicly reports this vital data by individual hospital nationwide, Leapfrog’s latest findings highlight key national and state-level trends in maternity care.
The 2025 Leapfrog Maternity Care Report reveals that while Nulliparous, Term, Singleton, Vertex (NTSV) C-section rates remain high at 25.3% nationally, episiotomy rates have dropped significantly — declining by 73% since Leapfrog began reporting on this measure in 2012. Today, episiotomy rates average 3.4%.
For the first time, the analysis includes hospital-reported disparities in C-section rates by race and ethnicity, finding one in five hospitals report disparities between non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White patients.
“We applaud the hospitals that voluntarily make this data available to the public through Leapfrog. Transparency takes courage, and it is the critical first step on the path to real change,” said Leah Binder, Leapfrog President & CEO. “We congratulate hospitals on reducing episiotomy rates, which has made a difference for thousands of women and babies. However, we urge renewed efforts to lower C-section rates and continue improving maternity care for all patients.”
Other findings include:
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States with the highest NTSV C-section rates are Mississippi (28.9%), New York (28.3%) and Massachusetts (27.8%).
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States with the lowest NTSV C-section rates are Nebraska (18.8%), Utah (19.7%) and Idaho (20.0%).
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Most hospitals, 85.9%, have policies in place to prevent early elective deliveries.
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The majority of hospitals provide evidence-based maternity care services including:
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96.1% of hospitals offer lactation consultants
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89.7% of hospitals allow doulas in labor and delivery
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84.1% of hospitals allow vaginal birth after a C-section (VBAC)
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81.6% of hospitals offer postpartum tubal ligation
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61.0% of hospitals offer certified midwives in labor and delivery
More information on these trends, including state C-section rates and availability of the above maternity services by state, are available on the report webpage.
The report uses hospital data from more than 2,400 hospitals that report to the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, representing 80% of U.S. hospital beds. Of those hospitals, 1,700 offer and report on their maternity care. Leapfrog is the only organization that publicly reports this maternity data by hospital. To learn more about Leapfrog’s maternity care measures and search individual hospitals, visit Leapfrog’s website.
About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps for patient safety. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey and Leapfrog Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) Survey collect and transparently report hospital and ASC performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog's other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections. For more, follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter/X and Facebook, and sign up for our newsletter.