Abrazo Arrowhead Campus is among the first hospitals in the nation to be named a Blue Distinction Center for its maternity care program by Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

Nearly four million babies are born in the U.S. annually, making childbirth the most common cause of hospitalization. The new Blue Distinction Center program is designed to help prospective parents find hospitals that deliver quality, affordable maternity care, according to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona.

“This designation recognizes our commitment at Abrazo Arrowhead Campus to providing high-quality maternity care and compassionate, personalized service to all of our families,” said Frank Molinaro, Abrazo Arrowhead Campus CEO. “We are thrilled to receive national recognition by Blue Cross Blue Shield for our excellence in maternity care.’’

Abrazo Arrowhead Campus demonstrated that it met several quality measures, including the percentage of newborns that fall into the category of early elective delivery. Compared with babies born 39 weeks or later, early-term infants face higher risks of infant death and respiratory ailments such as respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia, and respiratory failure, among other conditions.

These babies also have a higher rate of admission to Neonatal Intensive Care Units. Abrazo Arrowhead Campus agreed to meet requirements that align with principles that support evidence-based practices of care, as well as having initiated programs to promote successful breastfeeding.

Arrowhead Campus was also evaluated for overall patient satisfaction, including a willingness to recommend the hospital to others.

Abrazo Arrowhead Campus provides private postpartum rooms and has a complete Special Care Nursery for specialized neonatal care. Through a new service, laborists who are board-certified OB physicians are on-site 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to ensure that women in labor have access to the care they need, as they need it.

Blue Distinction Centers+ for Maternity Care, an expansion of the national Blue Distinction Specialty Care program, are hospitals recognized for delivering quality, affordable specialty care safely and effectively, based on objective measures developed with input from the medical community. To receive a Blue Distinction Centers+ for Maternity Care designation, a hospital must also meet requirements for cost efficiency.