When you’re pregnant, the last thing you want to worry about is the safety of you and your baby at the hospital. But Maryland’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 Maryland, according to U.S. News and World Report:
Garrett Regional Medical Center, Oakland (Garrett County)
Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore
Johns Hopkins Medicine-Howard County Medical Center, Columbia (Howard County)
Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center, Annapolis
University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center, Largo (Prince George’s County)
University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, Bel Air (Harford County)
Notably, Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center received this award just as the hospital celebrated the 30-year anniversary of Clatanoff Pavilion, which houses the hospital’s birth center and NICU. Nearly 150,000 babies have been delivered there more than 30 years.
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 best maternity care access hospitals in Maryland are as follows:
Carroll Hospital, Westminster (Carroll County)
Garrett Regional Medical Center, Oakland (Garrett County)
Meritus Health-Hagerstown, Hagerstown (Washington County)
University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, Bel Air (Harford County)
UPMC Western Maryland, Cumberland (Allegany County)
The ranking also determined the top 20 metropolitan areas with highly-rated maternity care hospitals in the U.S. While no Maryland cities made the list, Washington, D.C. did. It’s not uncommon for Maryland parents to travel to highly-ranked D.C. hospitals, such as MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, to receive care.
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.
