Birth Equity

The initiative seeks to find new ways to deliver respectful care that is responsive to the Black community’s specific health needs.

Despite offering high-quality perinatal care, 80% of California’s licensed birth centers have closed in five years. This fact sheet examines the compounding challenges that birth centers face.

Maternity Care in California: Delivering the Data provides an overview of the delivery of maternity care in California, using the most recent data. When available, comparisons of California data to national averages, as well as metrics by race/ethnicity and trend data, are provided.

While California continues to make progress on the quality of care provided to women during their pregnancies and deliveries, there is room for improvement. This set of quality measures focuses on maternal health and childbirth.