Recommendations for OB/GYN and/or Endocrinologist in Berkeley

Hi and welcome to the area and congrats on your first baby!

I have been seeing Dr. Madhavan at East Bay Medical Foundation for my last two pregnancies - she and the rest of the group are great and deliver at Alta Bates. Depending on your health insurance you may want to consider EBMF.

I have also been under the care of an endocrinologist for thyroid issues for 5 years and have had mixed experiences. It's really hard to find a doctor that understands endocrine issues in women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or postpartum. When I first moved here I saw Dr. Oman Murad who had little experience with women and no experience with pregnancy, breastfeeding or postpartum. Several times he would google medical journals for answers because I challenged a lot of his recommendations since they were not pre/postnatal-specific. I was correct most of the time so I left him. I then saw Dr. Nithya Mani at Stanford in Emeryville. She is more knowledgeable, but I'm in the process of leaving because she would not listen to my concerns. I frequently told her about symptoms of a prescribed medication but she brushed it off three times as "postpartum hormones."  This was my third baby so I'm well aware of what postpartum is like. Sure enough, after stopping that medication my symptoms went away. I'm scheduled with a third person down in Castro Valley and I hope they'll be the right fit. I had a fabulous doctor in Mountain View so I know what good endo care should look like.

I love, love, love Dr. Clare Moynihan as my Endocrinologist.  She's with Stanford HealthCare in the fancy new(ish) location on Hollis street in Emeryville.  I can't say enough nice things about her.  I went through a pretty challenging time 2 years ago and she helped me through it.  I felt cared for, understood.  She's got a wry sense of humor.  She's kind.  She responds to emails.  As someone who will need life-long thyroid monitoring, I feel so lucky to have her as my endocrinologist.  https://stanfordhealthcare.org/doctors/m/clare-moynihan.html  I am happy to speak with you about her, if you want.  

I just wanted to thank the parents that replied to my message. After looking at what is available to me through my HMO and location, I am also switching to Sutter and EBMF so it is reassuring to hear your advice. 

I also can relate to your advice about thyroid care and was grateful to find out more about Endocrinology within the Sutter EBMF. I am sad to be leaving John Muir (since they only deliver babies now in Walnut Creek and I was not willing to drive that far in labor), because there is a really good Endocrinologist out of Concord, CA in their group named Yeran Bao. She is amazing and really helped me a lot early on in my pregnancy and really understands pregnant women with thyroid issues. I wish I could switch back to John Muir after I deliver but I don't think they have any local Berkeley pediatricians (or PCPs?) but I am going to double check. They do have OB/GYNs in Berkeley but won't deliver there. I would be really interested to hear how you find the Castro Valley Endocrinologist as I would likely be limited to them since I have to go to physicians through my Sutter medical group because of my HMO.

And thank you Sharon for the recommendation for Dr. Moynihan! I will see if it is possible through my HMO.

:-)