U.S. News & World Report hospital rankings name 4 Long Island-based facilities among New York's best for maternity care

Four Long Island hospitals have been ranked among New York’s best hospitals for maternity care for 2026 in the U.S. News & World Report’s annual ratings list.

It’s the fourth consecutive year that Mount Sinai South Nassau in Oceanside has made the list, which this year includes 39 hospitals in the Long Island and New York City metropolitan area. Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park and South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore, both under the Northwell Health system, also made the cut, as well as NYU Langone Hospitals, which has a location in Mineola. 

"The Long Island and NYC metro area is a hub for high-quality maternity care," Jennifer Winston, health data scientist at U.S. News, said in an email. "These hospitals have demonstrated a commitment to high quality care, excelling on key metrics like low C-section rates in lower-risk pregnancies and fewer unexpected newborn complications."

The media company bases rankings on data collected each summer from hospitals around the country, relying on metrics that include rates for C-sections, episiotomies, and severe unexpected newborn complications, as well as implementation of best practices for maternal safety and breastfeeding.

Jessica Winters, from Massapequa Park, gave birth to her daughter Florence at Mount Sinai South Nassau on Sunday. She and her husband, Alex, both highlighted friendliness and attentiveness from staff.

"I definitely felt heard and listened to throughout my experience here," the new mother said in an interview,

In 2025, Mount Sinai South Nassau became the first in the Mount Sinai system to implement a new initiative called TeamBirth, said Dr. Alan Garely, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Mount Sinai South Nassau.

Developed by Ariadne Labs under Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the program emphasizes communication and collaboration between clinicians and patients throughout the patient's stay.

"It was so successful that all the other Mount Sinai hospitals in the system that deliver babies are going to do it because of us," Garely told Newsday.

The hospital's consistently high rankings from U.S. News can also be attributed to low rates of C-sections and episiotomies, combined with high rates of VBAC, or vaginal deliveries after the mother has already had a C-section, he said. 

The hospital additionally encourages birthing plans for patients and leads the state in rates of patients who breastfeed instead of using formula, he said. 

For the two other hospitals on Long Island ranked by U.S. News, Northwell Health has continued "to increase the number of system level guidelines, meaning, best practices based on evidence, where we standardize the care for our patients," said Dr. Kevin Holcomb, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center.

The system has also increased meetings for "complex patients that require careful coordination between" doctors of different disciplines and is developing a fetal intervention program to offer treatment before delivery, he told Newsday.

The hospitals' rankings are "directly attributable to our sustained efforts in promoting safe vaginal deliveries," he added. "The LeapFrog Group, a non-profit organization focused on patient safety, recently reported that Long Island Jewish Medical Center achieved the lowest cesarean section rate among low-risk pregnancies delivered on Long Island."

It’s the second year in a row that Long Island Jewish Medical Center has made the U.S. News & World Report list ranking hospitals that offer the best maternity care, Holcomb said. Seven Northwell hospitals across the tristate area made the national tally in total.

It’s unsurprising that Long Island hospitals are well "represented on U.S. News & World Report’s list," especially as many continue to invest in maternity care services like single-patient rooms and implement clinical best practices, said Wendy Darwell, president of the Suburban Hospital Alliance of NYS and Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council.

"At a time when many parts of the country are losing access to maternity care, our region is lucky to have so many institutions that are increasing their commitment to these services," she said in an email.

Also, she said, all Long Hospitals that provide labor and delivery services have been recognized "with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’s (CMS) Birthing-Friendly Hospitals designation based on their high performance on key quality metrics."

"Expectant parents have access to outstanding care in Nassau and Suffolk counties," Darwell said.

Correction: A previous version of this story did not include NYU Langone among top ranked hospitals for maternity care.

By Brianne Ledda

brianne.ledda@newsday.com@brianne_ledda

Brianne Ledda covers personal finance and affordability for Newsday. She previously covered Southold and Greenport for The Suffolk Times and is a graduate of Stony Brook University.