U.S. hospitals meeting c-section NTSV targets| Statista

According to a U.S. hospital survey, only four in ten U.S. hospitals are meeting the national target for cesarean sections (c-sections) in 2024. However, in 2020, half of hospitals surveyed were meeting the national standard, the highest in the recorded time period.

The current target for c-section births at U.S. hospitals of low-risk, first-time mothers is 23.6 percent. This is the Healthy People 2030 target of 23.6 percent for nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex (NTSV) cesarean birth rate, a standardized measure for ease of comparison between hospitals*. However, the actual average rate of NTSV c-section is currently at 25.2 percent. Still higher is the rate of c-section among all live births in the U.S. at 32.1 percent in 2022 (which includes mothers of higher risks such as giving birth to multiples).

Percentage of U.S. hospitals that are meeting the national cesarean section target from 2015 to 2024

Characteristic	Percentage of hospitals
2015	40.6
2016	44.7
2017	39.9
2018	39.5
2019	41.9
2020	51
2021	46.8
2022	42.3
2023	42.1
2024	40.6

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Release date

March 2025

More information

Region

United States

Survey time period

2015-2024

Special properties

Over 1,700 hospitals provided data for the "2024 Leapfrog Hospital Survey"

Supplementary notes

*National Healthy People 2030 target: NTSV cesarean birth rate: 23.6 percent.
Nulliparous, Term, Singleton, Vertex (NTSV) Cesarean Birth rate: referring to C-sections for mothers with first-time pregnancies (nulliparous) that have reached at least 37 weeks of gestation (term) and have a single baby (singleton) in the head-down position (vertex). This measure exclusively examines the population of women least likely to need a C-section, offering a standardized way to compare rates at different hospitals.

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