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Yes, out of interest, but it wouldn't have changed my mind about going there as it was the closest by a long way! 12% unplanned c-section...don't know how that compares to the States but it's good compared to the U.K. as a whole at 16.5%.

@bluestriped bee: Yes! one of the reasons I chose our hospital was because of it's csection rate and they have a birthing center with midwives in the hospital. The birthing center is directly across the hall from two operating room in case of an emergency.
The only thing it doesn't have is a NICU (but they do have a Level II nursery and use Boston Children's Hospital, 3 miles away, if needed).

There is a hospital that 4 of my friends have gone to, a great hospital, but all csections. I wasn't surprised to see it down there on the list.

ETA: I didn't look at Consumer Reports list when I chose our hospital, I just looked at our hospital's rate (11% for that year) and saw that it was one of the lowest in the state.

No. Only one hospital in the area has a NICU so that's where we went. I also felt very comfortable with my OB.

My state isn't even listed in that consumer report. I did not, I knew which hospital (there were 2 to pick from) that I wanted to deliver at and I didn't take C-section rate into account in that decision.

Nope, my OB only delivers at one hospital.

I didn't look at the hospital information, but I did look at the stats for my midwife practice.

I did and my hospital has one of the highest c-section rates in the state and probably anywhere. What matters apparently is your OB, not the hospital, because that's who will be delivering your baby. It turned out the hospital's c-section rate was high partly because they're well-known for their NICU and high-risk mamas have to deliver there which drives up their numbers. My OB was determined to avoid a c-section, though, so it really didn't matter what the hospital's numbers were.

I live close to the border of two states. When we looked up c-section rates, we realized that one hospital across the bridge In the other state had a c-section rate more than half that of the hospital at which I was intending to birth. We switched practices and hospitals.

Rates vary so much by provider that I didn't care what the overall hospital rate was -- just what my specific provider group's stats were.

@bluestriped bee: I think there's one free-standing birth center in Seattle proper and at least one on the Eastside, and I think another somewhere south of the city. But a couple of the hospitals have midwife practices and hospital setups that function sort of like a birth center (including the one I delivered at). IMO, it was the best of both worlds because the hospital was very accustomed to low-intervention and med-free births, but if I had needed a C-section, transfer of care would have been immediate and there was an OR literally next door to my room.

I would check the rate of your provider and the rest of his/her practice. That is the rate that will most likely apply to your delivery.

Nope. I was going to have a c section anyway.

Yes, c-section and episiotomy rates!

I did check. The midwives said of patients delivering at the hospital with one of their midwives rather than an OB that it was only 10%.

My OB only delivers at one hospital so I didn't even look. I ended up with a scheduled c-section anyway because my little peanut flipped breech at 38 weeks.

Like some other ladies said, there is one hospital in my area that has a really impressive NICU, so high-risk mamas deliver there, which drives up the c-section rate.

Like I mentioned on the other thread about hospitals, the only midwives in my city only work out of one hospital, so I didn't have a choice. Also, my hospital is the best in the city, with the best NICU, so I would expect it to have higher c-section rates. It's more likely to be chosen by women with high risk pregnancies.

Nope and I didn't care. I trusted my ob's judgment.

That consumer reports ranking seems to have some flaws. As many momma's have noted, having high level NICUs and specialties in high-risk patients will increase C-section rates. The hospital I'm delivering at is one of few area hospitals that encourage VBAC, which I assume also increases C-section rates. I think looking at overall stats of local hospitals (policies on induction, episiotomy rate, policy on when you are admitted, NICU level, infection level, etc) are more useful than a single ranking

Nope, but I agree that it's probably hard to interpret. I imagine the C-section rate at a hospital with facilities that draw a higher amount of higher risk pregnancies (multiples, etc.) would garner more C-sections because of their clientele. I chose the hospital with the best NICU because I didn't know what we would be needing early on. I really feel like a doc's C-section rates would matter to me more than the hospital's.