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St. Luke’s University Health Network has been selected as one of “America’s Best Maternity Hospitals for 2022” by Newsweek. The nationwide survey identified the top hospitals for maternity care across the United States.

“At St. Luke’s, we work incredibly hard to ensure the health and safety of our patients while providing personalized care to each of our families,” says Elizabeth Dierking, MD, Vice Chair of the St. Luke’s OB/GYN Department. “It is humbling to have the work we do recognized in this way, but it also affirms our belief that we truly provide the best care to our patients every day.”

Newsweek and Statista partnered to identify “America’s Best Maternity Hospitals that provide high-quality maternity care from pregnancy through birth and even postpartum.” The survey was conducted from February 2022 to March 2022, and three data sources were evaluated to identify leading maternity hospitals:

• Hospital recommendations from peers;
• Patient satisfaction data; and
• Medical key performance indicators on hospitals, including data on elective delivery, infection prevention and cesarean births.

St. Luke’s has long been recognized as a leader in the region for its exceptional maternity care. Recent honors include 2021 Morning Call Readers’ Choice Awards for the “Best Place to Have a Baby” and “Best Obstetrician,” and a 2022 Who's Who in Lehigh Valley Business listing for “Best Birthing Center.”

“St. Luke's has received a number of quality awards year after year, including a Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care and IBM Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals,” Dr. Dierking points out. “Closer to home, we have repeatedly been named as the ‘Best Place to Have a Baby’ here in the Lehigh Valley. These awards are a testament to the hard work our staff does every day to ensure our patients get the best care and experience possible.”

Dr. Dierking says that St. Luke’s has implemented initiatives that emphasize quality and the overall patient experience.

“We have three state-of-the-art labor and delivery units and dozens of outpatient offices positioned across the Lehigh Valley to ensure that our families get the care they need close to home,” Dr. Dierking says. “Our patients have the opportunity to get to know their doctors over the course of their pregnancy, so their delivery experience is truly unique. We provide evidence-based care that is high quality, cost-effective and always centered around what the patient and their growing family need.”

St. Luke’s birthing units offer parents the comforts of a safe, family-centered atmosphere to welcome their new babies into the world. The units have:

• Single-patient labor-delivery-recovery (LDR) rooms;
• Single patient post-partum rooms with private bathrooms;
• A triage area with early labor lounge, family waiting area and operating rooms for Cesarean deliveries; and more.

To encourage family time and support for new parents, newborn nursery visiting hours are unlimited, and a multi-tiered infant security system is in place for the safety of the newborns.

“Patients who are pregnant or planning for the future know that they can trust our department to deliver the care they expect, just as we have for the last 150 years,” Dr. Dierking says.

For more information about St. Luke’s OB/GYN, visit sluhn.org/womens or call 1-866-STLUKES (785-8537).