A WBUR data analysis of childbirth quality data facilitates the comparison hospitals across Massachusetts. The data analysis consist of public data and data collected from the 47 hospitals in Massachusetts that deliver babies. The measures selected to compare hospitals that perform deliveries in Massachusetts included:
1 – Early elective deliveries (source, collected and shared by The Leapfrog Group)
2 – First-time Cesarean sections (source, pages 84-85)
3 – Vaginal births after a C-section, or VBACs (source, pages 84-85)
4 – Episiotomies (source, collected and shared by The Leapfrog Group)
5 – Exclusive breast-feeding (source: collected by WBUR).
Comparison of the Massachusetts hospitals that perform deliveries can be viewed on an interactive map at http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2014/01/interactive-childbirth-massachusetts-hospitals