How to Choose your Midwife or OB in LA: A Doula’s Guide to Finding Your Best Birth Team
Choosing an OB or midwife can deeply influence your birth experience. This Los Angeles guide explains what to look for, what to ask, and how to find a provider who supports your goals.
Table of Contents:
OBs vs. Midwives,
Why Choosing the Right Provider in Los Angeles Is Important,
Spotlight on Moxie Birth Center,
Deciding What Kind of Birth You Want,
Questions to Ask a Provider,
Red Flags, Green Flags,
Recommended Podcasts,
How Can a Doula Help You Choose?
BY: REBECCA BELENKY OF LOS ANGELES BIRTH
Choosing your obstetrician or midwife is one of the most important decisions you will make during pregnancy. Your provider shapes your medical care options, the atmosphere of your pregnancy, the atmosphere of your care, and the likelihood of having certain birth interventions.
As a doula in LA, supporting families across hospitals, birth centers, and home birth practices, I believe that one of the most significant predictors of how supported a family feels in birth is their provider.
Full stop.
The wrong provider feels like a dark cloud that sucks your resolve and strength. They make you feel small and question your ability to make wise decisions. While the right provider makes you be listened to, cared for, and respected.
This 2026 guide will help you understand your options, identify red flags, and explore your values around what's important for your prenatal and postpartum care.
OBs vs. Midwives: Understanding Your Options in Los Angeles
Before choosing a provider, it helps to understand what each care model offers, especially since LA has many practice models.
OB GYNs (Obstetricians)
Obstetricians are medical doctors and surgeons who attend births in hospitals. They are trained to manage complications and perform cesareans. OBs are essential for high-risk pregnancies. Some support physiologic birth, while others may follow more traditional hospital timelines or intervention protocols and routines.
OB practices in Los Angeles often function as group practices, so you may see a different provider at each appointment and a different doctor on call when you give birth.
Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs)
CNMs are registered nurses with graduate-level midwifery training. They attend births in hospitals and birth centers. CNMs specialize in physiologic birth, informed consent, and vaginal births. They typically spend more time with patients during prenatal visits and labor.
CNMs in hospitals absolutely support epidural use when desired. Choosing a hospital-based midwife does not mean committing to an unmedicated birth.
Learn more about the midwifery model of care:
American College of Nurse-Midwives, Why Choose a Midwife?
Licensed Midwives (LMs/CPMs)
Licensed Certified midwives provide care in homes and freestanding birth centers. They focus on physiologic birth, autonomy, and long, relationship-based prenatal visits. Licensed midwives achieve excellent outcomes in low-risk pregnancies and offer continuity of care uncommon in hospital settings.
If you are hoping for a water-birth, LMs and CPMs specialize in this kind of low-intervention, vaginal birth.
Learn more here:
Why Choosing the Right Provider in Los Angeles Is Important
Families in Los Angeles have many options for giving birth. But the variation between hospitals and practices can be vast, and rates can differ widely from one hospital to the next, even within the same area of the city. This means your experience can look dramatically different depending on where and with whom you give birth. This decision is truly important.
Some key points for LA families:
C-section rates vary considerably throughout LA hospitals, from the low 20 percent range to over 40 percent.
Routine Induction practices vary widely.
Policies regarding movement, pushing positions, eating during labor, and monitoring differ from hospital to hospital.
Some OB practices rely heavily on group rotations, so the provider you see prenatally may not be the one attending your birth.
CNM hospital teams are becoming increasingly available and offer a low-intervention approach within the hospital setting.
LA has a well-established community midwifery network for home birth and birth center options.
A note on water birth in the area:
There are no hospitals in Los Angeles that offer water birth. Some hospitals allow laboring in the water (shower or bathtub), but none are set up for pushing a baby out in the water. If water birth is a priority for you, consider a home birth or birth center option.
Spotlight: Moxie Birth Center in South Pasadena, CA
One truly unique option in the LA area is Moxie Birth Center in South Pasadena. Moxie offers a hybrid model that combines midwifery care with in-house obstetric collaboration for families in the LA area. This provides families with the benefits of midwife-led care, with integrated medical assistance as needed.
Moxie Birth Center offers:
Prenatal care with midwives
OB backup within the same practice
Out-of-hospital birth with a birth tub and nitrous oxide as the norm
Hospital birth if the pregnancy becomes high-risk
Water birth availability
Longer, relationship-based appointments
A community-centered environment
This model is beneficial for families who want the support of the midwifery model, combined with the reassurance of integrated medical care.
What Kind of Birth Do You Want? Start by asking yourself some questions.
Your ideal provider depends on your personal birth values, comfort level, and medical needs. Learning about what will help you feel empowered and safe is essential and unique to you and your previous lived experience.
Ask yourself:
How important is a low-intervention or physiologic birth?
What tools do I want to utilize for pain management?
How important is my desire for a vaginal birth?
Do I feel safer in a hospital, birth center, or at home?
Do I prefer longer, more individualized prenatal visits?
Am I planning a VBAC?
How does cost play into my decision of where to give birth?
Do I want continuity with a single provider, or do I prefer working with a group?
How far am I willing to travel? Do I want them to come to me?
If your goal is a low-intervention or physiologic birth
Consider a birth center, home birth midwife, or a hospital-based CNM. Some OBs are also very supportive of physiologic birth.
If you want an epidural in labor
Both OBs and hospital CNMs are excellent options. Hospital midwives regularly care for patients with epidurals and provide ongoing hands-on support, position changes, and guidance. Epidurals are not available at a birth center or home birth.
If you want a VBAC
Choose a VBAC supportive OB or a CNM group with OB backup. In LA, VBAC policies differ greatly by provider and hospital. Read more on the topic: VBAC: Your Guide to LA Birth Options
If you want a home or birth center birth
Licensed midwives or birth center midwives are the appropriate providers.
If you have a high-risk pregnancy
An OB or MFM specialist is appropriate, and a doula would be a great addition, offering holistic support throughout your entire birth experience.
Questions to Ask an OB or Midwife in Los Angeles
These questions will help you understand a provider’s true practice style.
What is your C-section rate for first-time parents?
In the last month, how many of your patients were given an induction? When do you think it is necessary?
How do you determine whether labor is progressing normally?
What positions do you most often see your patients pushing?
What are your policies around movement, hydration, and eating in labor?
What is your episiotomy rate? Read more on the blog: Episiotomy Rates in Los Angeles Hospitals
If my baby were breech at the beginning of the Third Trimester, what would my options be?
Do you have any planned time off that would affect you being able to attend my birth?
Who will attend my birth if you are not available?
How do you feel about working with doulas?
Red Flags to Watch For
These may indicate a provider who is not practicing Evidence-based care:
Dismisses or belittles your concerns or questions
Using antiquated timelines, such as one centimeter per hour
Strong pressure toward induction without a clear medical reason
Only allowing pushing on your back.
Not allowing food or drink in labor.
Discouraging movement
Commenting negatively about doulas
Rushing through appointments
Not offering risks and benefits before interventions.
Green Flags
These suggest you have found a caring, evidence-based provider:
They are interested in hearing about your birth preferences and concerns.
They give explanations that make sense and allow time to make carefully considered decisions.
They welcome your questions and take time to listen to your point of view.
They support movement and getting out of bed in labor.
They have collaborative relationships with doulas.
They respect knowledgeable choice.
How a Doula Helps You Choose the Right Provider
Choosing a provider is a significant part of birth preparation, and it is something I help families navigate often. A doula can support you by:
Explaining differences between LA hospitals
Giving a perspective on various provider styles
Helping you prepare questions for appointments
Clarifying medical language
Sharing a perspective on how each provider approaches birth situations
Connecting you with a provider who matches your values
You do not need to figure this out alone. A doula can be an important guide as you move through important decisions in your birth.
Recommended Podcasts About Choosing a Birth Provider
If you prefer to learn by listening, these podcast episodes offer thoughtful, evidence-based conversations about choosing an OB or midwife, navigating hospital culture, and understanding your full range of birth options. These are excellent resources for both pregnant parents and partners.
Evidence-Based Birth® Podcast
Top 10 Evidence-Based Strategies For Lowering the Risk of Cesarean -Episode 343
A clear, research-based discussion of how to reduce the chance of needing a cesarean.
What is Respectful Maternity Care? with Dr Jessica Brumley -Episode 338
Learn how respectful care can improve outcomes, build trust, and why a “midwife for every community” could change the landscape of maternal health in the United States.
Advocating for Yourself During Prenatal Visits with Dr Leslie Farrington, OB/GYN -Episode 332
Dr. Farrington also provides practical strategies for building confidence, addressing power imbalances in medical settings, and making sure patients are listened to and respected.
Rise of Home Birth in the US - Episode 22
Rebecca Dekker explores the increase in Home birth rates in the US.
Birthful Podcast
Why Choosing the Right Care Provider is Crucial for Your Pregnancy with Dr Robin Elise Weiss
A practical conversation about how to determine whether your provider’s philosophy matches your goals.
How to Know if Your Provider Is Truly a Good Fit? with Dr Brad Bootstaylor
Dr Bootstaylor has a useful perspective for families planning a hospital birth who still want individualised care.
Final Thoughts
Maybe you are reading this feeling overwhelmed and wondering whether you need to rethink your medical provider? If you are questioning things, that is probably a sign that you are looking for more than you are receiving. In all my years as a doula, I’ve noticed that if you are trying to convince yourself to be satisfied with something that doesn’t feel right, it's a sign that you should keep looking. Listen to that inner voice that is saying you want something different.
You deserve prenatal care that fits with your unique values and helps you feel genuinely seen and heard throughout pregnancy and labor.
Curious about how doula care might add to your birth experience? I offer birth and postpartum doula support, private childbirth and lactation education throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period. If you are interested in working together, please schedule a discovery call to learn more about my doula services.
About Rebecca Belenky
Rebecca Belenky is a Los Angeles–based postpartum doula, childbirth educator, and lactation educator who has been supporting families since 2014. Through her practice, Los Angeles Birth, she offers compassionate, trauma-informed care that helps parents to feel informed, grounded, and confident throughout pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum journey.
