John Muir Health’s Walnut Creek Medical Center Named Among U.S. News & World Report’s Fifth Annual 2026 Best Hospitals for Maternity Care

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December 22, 2025

(Walnut Creek, Calif.) − U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in hospital rankings and consumer advice, has named John Muir Health’s Walnut Creek Medical Center as a 2026 High Performing hospital for Maternity Care. This is the highest award a hospital can earn as part of U.S. News’ Best Hospitals for Maternity Care annual study, now in its fifth edition.

U.S. News began evaluating maternity care hospitals in 2021, rating hospitals that provide labor and delivery services and submit detailed data to the publication for analysis. For the 2026 edition, approximately 900 hospitals nationwide submitted maternity data for evaluation. Best Hospitals for Maternity Care ratings are intended to assist expectant parents, in consultation with their prenatal care providers, in making informed decisions about where to receive maternity services that best meet their family’s needs.

John Muir Health’s Walnut Creek Medical Center earned a High Performing designation in recognition of maternity care as measured by factors such as C-section rates in lower-risk pregnancies, severe unexpected newborn complication rates, exclusive breast milk feeding rates, and birthing-friendly practices, among other measures.

“This recognition reflects the outstanding care delivered by our providers, nurses and staff,” said Michelle Lopes, Chief Administrative Officer, Clinical Integration and Performance and System Chief Nurse Executive at John Muir Health. “Families regularly choose our Birth Center because of the comprehensive, expert and family-centered care we provide for routine and high-risk pregnancies.”

“Hospitals designated as a U.S. News Best Hospital for Maternity Care are national leaders. This recognition means they are consistently hitting crucial patient safety benchmarks compared to other hospitals,” said Jennifer Winston, Ph.D., health data scientist at U.S. News. “It's a clear signal to expectant parents about where the highest standards of care are being practiced – when parents see this designation, they can be assured they are choosing a hospital dedicated to exceptional, evidence-based maternity care.”

For more information, visit Best Hospitals for Maternity Care and use #BestMaternityHospitals on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok and X.

For more information on John Muir Health’s Birth Center, go here.