Over the last 15 years, births in California have been on a downward trend, declining 5% from 2000 to 2014. Nearly all babies in California are born in hospitals and delivered by physicians.

Medi-Cal covered nearly half of all births in California in 2014.

California has made significant progress in reducing maternal mortality rates, in contrast to the nation, whose rates continued to rise. While all race/ethnicity and age groups in California have experienced reductions in maternal mortality rates, there were still substantial differences across racial/ethnic groups.

Significant racial/ethnic disparities existed across a variety of maternal quality measures in California, from prenatal visits to preterm births to maternal and infant mortality rates. For many of these measures, African Americans performed worse than their peers in other racial/ethnic groups.

One in five California women giving birth experienced either prenatal or postpartum depression in 2013.

Consistent with national trends, California’s rate of cesarean sections (c-sections) has increased sharply, from one-fifth of all births in 1997 to one-third in 2014. While critical in some circumstances, c-sections can pose serious risks for baby and mother.

From 2010 to 2013, the total average payment for cesarean deliveries was nearly 50% higher than the total average payment for vaginal births.

The full report, as well as all the charts found in the report, is available under Document Downloads.