Choosing The Best Hospital To Give Birth

One of the most important medical decisions a growing family can make is choosing where to have a baby. But selecting a hospital is not straightforward, and many parents make their choice based on proximity to their homes, reputation or word of mouth.

But what if you wanted to base your decision on more? On real empirical data that could help you choose a hospital that's best for you and your baby? How would you go about deciding that? It turns out there's no single repository of information or hospital rankings statewide, so WBUR has researched the available data and created an online tool for comparing hospital quality.

Martha Bebinger, WBUR's health care reporter

Dr Neel Shah, OB-GYN at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital and faculty investigator looking at childbirth at Ariadne Labs

To see an interactive map comparing the Massachusetts hospitals that perform deliveries, click here.