Moving to Berkeley 7 mos pregnant - seeking OB/GYN & Pediatrician

We're with Kaiser, and I love my OB (Dr. Sarah Wilson), and we had a great experience having our baby at Kaiser Oakland. 

Congratulations! I heartily recommend the very experienced and compassionate Kurt Wharton, M.D., and the great doctors at East Bay Pediatrics.

Dr Duffy is my ob, she's great. A saw a couple other people from her office (the ones who happened to be on call during my labor and delivery) and they were great as well. Dr. Emmanuel was there for the actual delivery, and I liked her a lot. 

Hi! I had some issues finding an OB/GYN who accepted my insurance, so in the last six months I went to three practices and really liked them all. I ended up with Dr. Jim Nishimine, who I really like, because he accepts my insurance (Anthem Blue Cross Gold Select PPO). The other practices take Anthem PPO's, but not select plans.

To be honest, my favorite practice was the Women's Group for Health practice in Berkeley. Dr. Lilia Lozano is the head OB, but I only met with Kathy Kroger, the NP and had a really positive experience. Their office is very responsive and helpful, and they use very convenience online tools for communication and sharing test results. I went to their office in Berkeley on Regent Street. Good luck and congratulations!

https://womensgroupforhealth.com/

Good afternoon. 

For OB, Sutter Health East Bay. Located on Milvia street. I saw a handful of doctors while pregnant but my main doctor was Dr Kadri. Delivered at Alta Bates. 

For pediatrician, any of the doctors at Primary Pediatrics Oakland. We see Dr Bruce Horowitz but saw others in the hospital and recommend.

Hope this helps!

Emily  

Check out the Sutter OB office on Milvia. Dr Jewell is amazing, and the whole practice is strong. They got me through a 48hr labor w/o a c section. Our pediatrician is in Castro Valley bc we don’t live as close to Berkeley now, so that’s probably not as helpful to you. 

HI, I recently moved here too at 7 months pregant, I am with Dr Lilia Lizano, located next to Alta Bates. So far my experience has been very positive, I was able to get an appointment next week after I arrived and the staff is always very responsive. 

I strongly recommend Dr. Carrie Duffy who is absolutely amazing, she is friendly, always takes time to answer all my questions and makes sure to give me opportunities to ask question even when she is running late. The practice recently changed their model such that they can't guarantee that your OB will be the one delivering your baby but there are opportunities for you to get to know others in the practice who may be on call.  Our pediatrician is Dr. Grace So at Berkeley Pediatrics and we love her. We feel she really listens to our concerns and is very personable and knowledgeable. 

Welcome! I just had a baby a few weeks ago and loved my OB gyn practice (OB Gyn Partners for Health in Oakland). They deliver at Alta Bates in Berkeley. I worked with a few of their doctors throughout my pregnancy and was happy with all of them. My son has been seeing East Bay Pediatrics (offices in Berkeley and Orinda) and while it’s been only a few visits so far, I have also been happy with his care there as well.

Dr. Kier VanRemoortere or Dr. Elisabeth Scheunling

Anyone at this practice is great.  

I gave birth in November.  Best of luck. 

Berkeley pediatrics are AMAZING. For OB, I had a wonderful experience with Debra Levinsky, but she's not for everyone (very direct, not so touchy-feely). Whoever you get, make sure you deliver at Alta Bates. I too came to the Bay Area in my 7th month and at first the facilities seemed really outdated, but in truth it's a boon (private room, often a real bed for your partner too!) and the nurses are just beyond wonderful. They deliver dramatically more babies than UCSF and the other hospitals in the area and it shows in the quality of care.

Another vote for Sutter East Bay Medical Foundation on Milvia in Berkeley. My OB is Dr. Ahsan, but Dr. Kadri delivered my baby two months ago. I also saw two other OBs three when Dr. Ahsan was out, everyone was fantastic! For Pediatrician, I go to the same office on Milvia and see Dr. Swearingen. I love the location because there is plenty of free parking and the building is new and clean. 

I delivered with Lilia Lizano a few months ago, and I've had a very good experience with her both getting pregnant and delivering. She is probably in the last few years of her practice, and is therefore very experienced. We had a minor scare during my delivery that resulted in us needing a C-section, and she helped me confidently move through that decision and get my daughter out within 30 minutes. I also saw Debra Levinsky a while back, for what was ultimately unfortunately a miscarriage, so she did my D&C, and although she can seem a little gruff at times I can tell you she has excellent bedside manner when it counts. I use Berkeley Peds (Dr. Sam Woods) for my daughter, and all of the doctors there are great and rotate through Alta Bates for management after your baby is delivered. I loved alta bates, like another person said, the building is older but we got a private room and my husband got a real (albeit a little stiff) bed to sleep in during my 4 day stay after delivery. The non-breakfast food is pretty bad, but no place is perfect! The nurses there are just unreal in how great they are with the new moms, and they have a full staff of lactation specialists, so I got to meet with a lactation specialist every day I was in the hospital (so 4 visits!).

Thank you all so much! This is truly so helpful and a bit of relief in a time when there are so many details with moving and planning. 

I will be a new mom in a new area so if anyone is interested in getting together, please email me! I would love some mom friends on this next journey :)

Just an FYI if you are interested in seeing Dr. Jewell at Sutter East Bay she is no longer with the practice. There are many other excellent doctors at SEB though (I am delivering in May) Dr. Van Ramoortere and Dr. Venkat are my two recs thus far.