Your prenatal care team

Now that you’re pregnant, you’ll work closely with a prenatal care team who will help you make decisions, track milestones, and stay healthy through your pregnancy. Kaiser Permanente’s collaborative approach to care helps us establish best practices that lead to better outcomes. With seamless communication across departments and specialties, everyone who cares for you during your pregnancy is connected, working as a team to keep you and your baby healthy. We’re here to empower and support you, and help you have the pregnancy, birth, and new baby experience you want.

These are some of the people who could be part of your prenatal care team:

Family Medicine-Obstetrics

Family Medicine doctors provide care throughout pregnancy, delivery, and beyond, offering continuity and building relationships with patients for their total health. They focus on low intervention, whole-person care, with over 80% of patients seeing the same provider for all prenatal visits and delivery. FMOB also offers ongoing care for those transitioning from the Centering Pregnancy Group and partners with OB and Maternal-fetal medicine specialists when necessary.

Midwifery

Certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) provide comprehensive maternity care throughout pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum, in addition to family planning and gynecologic services. CNMs are a main provider for women with low risk pregnancies, and collaborate with obstetricians and other specialists to ensure safe and personalized care.

Centering pregnancy

Centering pregnancy is a group-based model of prenatal care that follows national guidelines while offering flexibility to address health and wellness topics specific to the group. It combines regular group meetings led by a trained facilitator with a thorough pregnancy and childbirth education experience, fostering greater engagement, learning, and self-confidence. Partners are included in all aspects, making it ideal for couples and families seeking a collective prenatal experience.

Obstetrics

Obstetricians (OBs) are medical doctors specializing in the care of pregnant women from conception through postpartum. Most OBs are also gynecologists, providing care for reproductive health and non-pregnancy related issues. They are trained to perform complex procedures and manage serious pregnancy complications, such as amniocentesis and C-sections.

Perinatologists are also called maternal-fetal medicine specialists. They’re highly skilled in caring for patients with specific high-risk pregnancies.

Choosing a Family Medicine-obstetrician or Obstetrician or nurse-midwife

Choosing a doctor or nurse-midwife is related to where you live, and where you want to give birth. You’ll have to check to see if we offer nurse-midwifery in your area. 

In many Kaiser Permanente facilities, physicians and nurse-midwives work together to give you as much personalized care and attention as possible. 

Doctors and nurse-midwives have complementary training and skills to care for pregnant patients with all types of needs and plans. Their approaches to prenatal care and childbirth focus on keeping you and your baby healthy while addressing any complications that might arise. When you’re choosing your prenatal care team, find out if their philosophy and approach match your preferences and values. Whether you have a family medicine-obstetrician, obstetrician, a nurse-midwife, they share the same goal — keeping you and your baby healthy.