Differences between an OBGYN, a midwife, and a doula

Watch Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, MD's video on Differences between an OBGYN, a midwife, and a doula...
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Differences between an OBGYN, a midwife, and a doula

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Okay, the difference between a midwife, a doula and an OB, very important distinctions to make now. A midwife and an obstetrician are trained professionals who are what we call birth attendants. They can actually assist in the delivery of your child. They are medical professionals. There are midwives who are trained first as nurses, certified nurse midwives, and there are also lay midwives. They do have very different training but they do have a sense of training in the skills required to understand the physiology of pregnancy, labor, delivery, some of the complications that might occur. An obstetrician is an MD who has specialty training again in the same but also in the more high risk surgical problems, the more high risk medical problems, and that person, that doctor, would deliver in a hospital setting most commonly, sometimes a birthing center. A midwife will deliver in any of those settings sometimes depending on the location and what´s going on in their area. A doula is a trained professional who is non medical. They are there to assist and support. They are not delivering the baby. They are not medical personnel. They are there to help but not to diagnose and treat.

Watch Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, MD's video on Differences between an OBGYN, a midwife, and a doula...

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Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, MD

Obstetrician & Gynecologist

Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz completed her undergraduate education at Wesleyan University and post-baccalaureate pre-medical studies at Mills College. She earned her medical degree in 1996 from the University of Southern California School of Medicine, completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Cedars Sinai Medical Center and has been in private practice of obstetrics and gynecology in Los Angeles, CA since 2000. After many years of a personal yoga and meditation practice, she completed her Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist degree at California College of Ayurveda in 2010 and was board certified in Integrative and Holistic medicine in 2008.

Suzanne is involved in women’s empowerment and public education, and appears frequently as an expert in women’s and integrative health on TV, online and in print. She is co-founder of Cedars Sinai Medical Center's Green Committee and is deeply committed to the promotion of healing that involves individuals, families, communities and the planet.  She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children in a "green" renovated home with a sustainable native plants garden and organic “urban mini-farm”.

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