When you’re pregnant, the last thing you want to worry about is the safety of you and your baby at the hospital. But the United States’s maternal and infant mortality rates have been steadily increasing over the past few years, so finding a hospital well-known for comprehensive maternity care is very important for expecting parents.
U.S. News and World Report recently announced its 2026 Best Hospitals in Maternity Care ratings, determining the best hospitals to give birth or seek maternal care in the United States, with a state-by-state breakdown for parents-to-be.
The ranking and analysis website has been assessing maternity care hospitals since 2021 and is now in its fifth year of gathering data. Hospitals are graded based on objective factors, such as unexpected newborn complication rates, breastfeeding rates and how baby- and birthing-friendly they are.
These are the best hospitals for maternity care in the DMV, according to U.S. News and World Report:
MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, D.C.
University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center, Largo, MD (Prince George’s County)
Inova Alexandria Hospital, Alexandria, VA (Fairfax County)
Inova Fair Oaks Hospital, Fairfax, VA (Fairfax County)
Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center, Woodbridge, VA (Prince William County)
UVA Health System Prince William Medical Center, Manassas, VA (Prince William County)
Additionally, U.S. News and World Report has spent the last three years ranking maternity care access hospitals, which operate in areas considered “maternity care deserts.” If not for these hospitals, locals would have to drive long distances to access maternal care. The only hospital in the DMV to make the list of top maternity care access hospitals is the UVA Health System Prince William Medical Center in Manassas, Va.
The ranking also determined the top 20 metropolitan areas with highly-rated maternity care hospitals in the U.S., with Washington, D.C. making the list.
Parents can visit the usnews.com website to see a full ranking of every hospital in their state, as well as how their local hospitals stack up.
