If you’re going to have a baby, turns out the Pacific Northwest is a better place to be than most states. A new report published this week by the national customer review organization Consumer Affairs places both Washington and Oregon among the top 10 best places to have a baby. Oregon took the #5 spot, while Washington snuck in at #10.
The report reviews several metrics related to maternal healthcare access. Washington scored high in the areas of postpartum care, family support, and healthy babies. Still, even while landing a top spot, Washington has several maternity care challenges:
- In Washington, 20.5% of counties meet the definition of “maternity care desert” — they lack essential maternity care resources, including maternity hospitals, birth centers, or obstetric providers.
- Only 83.1% of women in Washington receive adequate or intermediate prenatal care — below the national average of 83.9%. Adequate care is defined as beginning care within the first four months of pregnancy and attending at least 80% of the medically recommended visits. Intermediate care is defined as starting care by the fourth month, but attending only 50% to 79% of the recommended visits.
- Oregon outpaces our state in maternal care providers: it boasts 119 providers per 100,000 women. In Washington, that number drops to 86.
“The Evergreen State hovers around the middle of the pack for the metrics measuring maternal healthcare access, ranking 27th overall in this category,” according to report authors. “However, Washington makes up for it with outstanding postpartum and family support, scoring third best. Families can take advantage of the state’s paid leave program, which includes 12 weeks and a maximum weekly benefit of $1,647 in 2026.
“Washington is also a high performer (sixth best overall) for maternal and infant outcomes,” the report finds. “The state boasts an especially low rate of babies born with low birthweight, at just 7%. That’s the third-lowest rate nationally.”
