Iowa
Four Iowa hospitals ranked among the best for maternity care by U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News and World Report releases annual “Best Hospital” rankings
This year’s list features an “Honor Roll” of 22 hospitals, replacing rankings and focusing on specialties, conditions, procedures & regions.
unbranded – Newsworthy, unbranded – Newsworthy
Four hospitals in Iowa, including one in Des Moines, have been named among the high performers for maternity care in the United States by U.S. News & World Report.
U.S. News analyzed 817 hospitals across the United States for seven metrics: rates for cesarean section, severe unexpected newborn complications, breast milk feeding, routine vaginal birth after cesarean deliveries and episiotomies and whether a hospital meets new federal criteria for “birthing-friendly” practices and tracks and reports outcomes for patients of different races and ethnicities.
Only half of evaluated hospitals were recognized as being among the best for maternity care.
The U.S. News ratings focused only on uncomplicated pregnancies and not high-risk ones, such as those involving mothers with diabetes or high blood pressure or who are pregnant with twins.
“The hospitals recognized by U.S. News as best hospitals for maternity care showcase exceptional care for expectant parents,” Jennifer Winston, a health data scientist at U.S. News, said in a news release. “These hospitals demonstrate significantly lower C-section rates and severe unexpected newborn complications compared to hospitals not recognized by U.S. News.”
What Iowa hospitals were named best for maternity care by U.S. News?
The hospitals in Iowa City, Mason City and Cedar Rapids received excellent ratings for minimizing avoidable C-sections, with less than 24% occurring in connection with first-time, low-risk pregnancies at full term.
At MercyOne Des Moines, severe newborn complications were low compared to the other three hospitals, where complications occur at an average rate, U.S. News said. Severe newborn complications occur when full-term newborns with normal birth weight and no preexisting conditions are injured or develop infections.
The median hospital rate of severe newborn complications is 13 per 1,000 births, according to U.S. News.
MercyOne Des Moines, Mercy Medical Center Cedar Rapids and the University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center all have an episiotomy rate of less than 5%. An episiotomy, a surgical cut made in the perineum during childbirth, is not recommended for routine use except in specific clinical cases.
The national and Midwest averages for babies exclusively breastfed during their hospital stay are 49% and 51%, respectively. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Mason City hospitals exceeded these averages, with Mercy Medical Center Cedar Rapids being the highest at 81%.
What other hospitals in the Midwest were named high-performing hospitals for maternity care by U.S. News?
Here are the number of hospitals recognized as high-performing for maternity care in states bordering Iowa.
Cooper Worth is a service/trending reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at cworth@gannett.com or follow him on X @CooperAWorth.
Iowa
Penn State earns commitment from Iowa State leading wide receiver via transfer
Penn State landed Iowa State’s pair of quarterbacks earlier Sunday, including starter Rocco Becht, in a splash move. Now, the Cyclones’ leading receiver is coming with them.
Wide receiver Brett Eskildsen committed to Penn State via the transfer portal, becoming the seventh Cyclone to join the Nittany Lions this weekend. He announced the move on social media.
Eskildsen recorded 30 receptions, 526 yards and five touchdowns as a sophomore in 2025. He also appeared in all 13 games as a freshman but made just two catches for 17 yards.
The 6-1, 200-pound wideout is from Frisco, Texas, and is a three-star in the 247Sports transfer rankings (No. 118 overall, No. 30 WR). He was a three-star out of high school as well, where he had more than 1,5000 career receiving yards.
Becht’s top man from 2026 is now in place. He’ll also be able to throw to standout Penn State freshman Koby Howard and quick youngster Tyseer Denmark, who have confirmed their returns thus far.
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Iowa
Iowa State picks up commitment from Arkansas State QB Jaylen Raynor
Iowa State football has picked up a commitment from Arkansas State quarterback Jaylen Raynor, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Jan. 3.
Raynor has one season of eligibility remaining. The 6-foot, 202-pounder from Kernersville, North Carolina, passed for 3,361 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. He was intercepted 11 times.
Raynor also rushed for 423 yards and seven touchdowns.
He passed for 8,694 yards and 52 touchdowns in three seasons at Arkansas State.
“The (Iowa State) coaching staff is known for winning,” Raynor told Thamel. “The head coach is a known winner and done it on multiple levels.”
Raynor will join Arkansas State offensive coordinator Keith Heckendorf in Ames. Heckendorf was named Cyclones quarterbacks coach this week.
Raynor completed 19 of 33 passes for 222 yards in a 24-16 loss to Iowa State on Sept. 13, 2025.
Iowa
Seven Iowa High School Wrestlers Off To Dominant Starts This Season – FloWrestling
The first month of the Iowa high school wrestling season has been filled with scintillating individual performances. Here’s a look at seven standouts who have been racking up bonus points in December.
Drew Anderson (Riverside)
The Class 1A state runner-up last year at 132 is up to 144 this season and he’s 14-0 with 11 technical falls, a pair of pins and a forfeit win. Anderson, a junior in his second season at the school, already owns the Riverside school record for technical falls with 28. Anderson is on pace to more than double the previous Riverside tech record of 23.
Urijah Courter (West Marshall)
Courter won the 2A title last season at 113 after placing third as a freshman at 106. He’s up to 120 this season. Courter is 14-0 this season with 10 pins and two technical falls. His ledger also includes a 6-5 win against Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont’s Simon Bettis in a rematch of last season’s state title bout.
Cooper Hinz (Jesup)
Entering the holiday break, Michigan commit and two-time state medalist Cooper Hinz is 22-0 with 21 wins via pin, technical fall or forfeit. His other victory was a 4-1 overtime decision against returning state placewinner Cain Rodgers of North Fayette Valley. More impressively, all of Hinz’s pins and technical falls have all come in the first period.
Lincoln Jipp (Bettendorf)
Jipp placed fifth at 138, third at 165 and second at 175 in Class 3A during his first three seasons. Now he’s up to 215 — 77 pounds more than where he started his career as a freshman. The North Carolina recruit pinned his way through the prestigious Dan Gable Donnybrook. He’s 16-0 with 10 pins, four technical falls and a forfeit.
Mason Koehler (Glenwood)
The returning 2A champ at 215 is 20-0 with 18 pins and a major decision. His only two matches that went the distance came at the Council Bluffs Classic, where he defeated Nebraska standout Ryan Boehle of Grand Island 14-4 and Minnesota hammer Joe Kruse of Totino-Grace 9-2. The rest of Koehler’s matches this season ended in first-period pins. He has already registered a six-second pin and another in nine seconds this season.
Jaxon Miller (Carlisle)
Miller is a three-time state medalist, a two-time finalist and returning state champ in Class 3A. He placed fourth as a freshman at 145 before making trips to the finals at 157 and 165. He’s 16-0 this season with 13 first-period pins, two technical falls and a forfeit.
Keaton Moeller (Starmont)
Moeller placed third in 1A as a freshman at 145 before winning a state title at 150 as a sophomore. He missed all of last season after suffering a torn ACL in football. Now he’s back as a senior at 190 and Moeller hasn’t missed a beat. He’s 13-0 with five pins, six technical falls and a pair of forfeits. He has yet to wrestle a full period this season.
Iowa High School Premium Rankings
Check out the Iowa High School Wrestling Premium Rankings, which are generated by using an athlete’s complete match history to predict a wrestler’s performance against others in their weight class by considering factors such as win-loss records, the quality of their victories (pins, technical falls, major decisions), the strength of their opponents and overall historical performance patterns. The data is updated every Monday, sourced from the Trackwrestling season results. Since each team is responsible for maintaining their season results, any data discrepancies for a wrestler should be addressed by contacting their coach to manage the information within the season. This includes the weight class assigned. Wrestlers are eligible to be ranked after competing in five matches at a single weight.
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