Seeking a Great OB/GYN

Dear K.,
Greetings!!!

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR VERY EXCITING NEWS!!!

I know you said UCLA Santa Monica or St. John's is what you prefer, but I highly recommend my amazing midwife, Tonya Brooks, who is located in Sherman Oaks. I experienced the most incredible pregnancy and birth with her as my midwife!

Here's her data:

The Natural Birth & Women’s Center
14140 Magnolia Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
Tel: ###-###-####
http://www.gr8birth.com

If anything, I would definitely check out her 8 week birthing classes. They are amazing, and you can always get more data when you call her office.

Enjoy these most dazzling of times, K.!

L. (Mama to 20 week old Dylan Orion) : )))

1 mom found this helpful

sharon pushkin is wonderful- she is very popular and i'm not sure if she's taking on new pregnant patients at the time...
sharon pushkin
###-###-####
she's on wilshire and westwood and delivers at both of those hospitals.
-S. l

My OB-GYN is Dr. Aminah Bliss and we delivered at St. Johns. I highly recommend her because she is warm and very professional.
Congratulations!

I love, love, love my OBGYN. She has privileges at both hospitals. Her office is across the street from UCLA Santa Monica. Her name is Tristan Bickman.
Having lost our first baby she was very sensitive to my need to be reassured. She allowed me to come in every other week and have an ultra sound until I was out of my first trimester.
In fact, I had an ultra sound at every appointment.
She is super dedicated to her patients. I never feel rushed when I see her. She is also a doctor who plays it safe.
Good luck and Congratulations!

I delivered at St. John's. I had a team of ob/gyns that I liked a lot. Dr. Jacqueline Trejo was my doctor for the c-section I had, but some others are Dr. Lawrence Bruksch, Dr. Aminah Bliss, Dr. Gregory Ewertz. They practice right next door to St. John's. I have Blue Cross insurance. Don't know if they take others or not.

St. John's is a great hospital. The rooms are nice and the nurses are very helpful.

Congratulations!

Congrqtulqtions on your exciting news!

I am going to be the 3rd person to reccomend Dr. Benafsheh Bayati. I was one of her first patients after she moved here. She was a new doctor at the Women's Health Center in Santa Monica across the street from UCLA SM. She was AMAZING!! I too went into premature labor two weeks early and she was in Hawaii on Vacation for the Labor Day weekend. She was sooo upset to have missed one of if not her first baby at that office. She called several times and was in constant communication with the doctor who was on duty. And I went through three doctors rotations.....36 hours of labor! I was already checked out by the time she came home so she called me at home to talk and to find out how we were doing! I have nothing but the highest praise for her and would reccomend her highly! Since getting her own practice, I do not know if she still has privelidges at SM UCLA, which is where I gave birth. If she doesn't I would be willing to go to St. John's just for her! And I had an amazing expierence at UCLA SM.

Good luck with whom ever you choose. Remember this, if you feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable with your doctor, change them imediatley! You will never get your first expierence back again!

Jennifer

Dr. Cornelia Daly is fantastic! My husband and I just love her. We delivered our first baby 2.5 weeks ago and Dr. Daly was amazing throughout the pregnancy and delivery. We highly recommend her. She delivers at St. John's and is located at St. John's as well. Phone # is ###-###-####...2001 Santa Monica Blvd. Hope that helps. She is one of the best!

I LOVE my Dr, her name is Dr. Bo Thordarson and she is at the Santa Monica Medical offices and delivers at St John's. I delivered my baby there recently and loved the hospital and staff that we saw there. The only issue with Dr T is that she really only works on Tues, Wed and Thurs so if you have to go in on any other day you will be put in wit another Dr from her practice. I didnt find this to be a problem since all of their Dr's are amazing. The practice is Frumovitz, Matsunaga & Vogal at 2001 Santa Monica Blvd Suite 970. Hope this helps, I believe that you can make an appointment to go and meet with any or all of the Drs.

I can reccomend Dr. Amersi and Dr. Yashari, a two-doctor practice associated with UCLA Santa Monica. Their office is located on 1260 15th Suite 616 (@ Arizona). They are both very nice and attentive, I feel totally comfortable knowing that I am in their care.

Drs. Phone: ###-###-####

Good Luck,

J..

Hi I totally recommend Dr. Sheryl Ross - anyone in that group is great including Dr. Daly as well. They are affiliated with St. John's. I had a high risk pregnancy with a baby that came early b/c of low AFI and I was so closely monitored that my little one is perfectly healthy. They are a really good office and will take excellent care of you!

Dr. Allyson Gonzalez is located on 15th street across from SMUCLA. She is WONDERFUL! I changed docs at 32 weeks becuase my other doc was more concerned with her celeb lifestyle then taking care of me. If it wasn't for Dr. Gonzalez I would have had a c-sec. She worked with me for over 3 hours of pushing. She is so kind and CARING for her pts. I love her. If you want more details, give me a call. I also am a nurse (CCU and ER). My name is V., I have one son 2 years old. My number is ###-###-####

Dr. Samuel Porter is a great OBGYN. I highly recommend him! He delivered my daughter 3 years ago, and also a friend's child 2 years ago. The day after I gave birth Dr. Porter came to visit me in the hospital, and that evening he attended the wedding of a man he delivered. His waiting room is covered in photos of babies he's delivered over his 41 year career. You can't get a better ringing endorsement than that.

Dr. Samuel Porter
321 North Larchmont Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90004
###-###-####

Congratulations and best of luck to you!

Sincerely,
R. Hook

Hi K.,
Congratulations! I used Lisa Masterson in Santa Monica - ###-###-#### - 1333 Ocean Ave between Arizona and Santa Monica. I had my son 5 years ago but she was affiliated with Santa Monica, St. Johns and Cedars back then.

Good luck.

L.

Dr. Olivia Crookes ###-###-####.

Dear K.,

Dr. Nadini Verma is a gem. She's warm, smart, & a good listener. My husband & I would come in for each prenatal checkup & she'd ask with a smile, "OK, what's on your list? We'll do it first." When the Northridge earthquake damaged UCLA-SM Hospital & caused us to lose our home, with me 9 months pregnant, she kept in touch with calming words over the next scary 2 weeks until my son's birth. That healthy baby is a tall, healthy teen now. Since 1994, she's been with me through menopause, surgery, & endocrine studies/treatment. Her office is on Wilshire at 18th, ###-###-####. Good luck!

-j

Dr. Bliss delivered my son 4 months ago at St. John's and she was my doctor throughout the pregnancy. Both her and St. John's were great and I highly recommend. She has a great sense of humor and is one of the most kind and considerate doctors I have come across. Besides with a name like "Aminah" meaning the trustworthy one and "Bliss" what more could you ask for!!! Congratulations!

I am also prego with our first baby!

I looooove my OB/GYN. He's been in the business for years, and he's our family doctor's doctor. I figured he must be good if he's treating other doctors. He spends a ton of time with you at your appointments, you can ask him 100 questions and not feel like you're dumb or insane. Also, when my brother in law past away, he called me at home to check in with me to make sure I was okay.

The office staff is wonderful, which is also important. Parking is $6 in the bldg, but there's always plenty of street parking for free. We only paid for parking once, and have been parking on the street ever since Nov. His office is across the street from the Century City Mall.

The only thing is he delivers at Cedars and I know you prefer UCLA SM or St. John's.

If you're still interested:
Dr. Howard Mandel
10309 Santa Monica Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90025
###-###-####

Congrats and good luck!

I have a great OB/GYN, Dr. Lisa Masterson in Santa Monica. She will deliver at both. I had all 3 of my boys at St. Johns, but she will go to UCLA as well. She is the only doctor in her practice which does make her busy, but she is worth it.

Dr. Roy Silver is fantastic! He is my brother-in-law, and covers patients for some of the doctors previously mentioned. He is extremely attentive, very accomodating, caring, and personal. If he weren't my brother-in-law, he would be my doctor and would have delivered both of my kids. I have heard wonderful things about his deliveries.

He delivers at Cedars-Sinai and his office is in the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. I know you mentioned UCLA Santa Monica and St. Johns.

Here is his contact info:
Dr. Roy Silver
###-###-####

My OBGYN Dr. Emily Sikking is fantastic. She is very thourough, listens to your personal decisions on labor and delivery, open to all methods, and happens to be a well known surgeon - I had to have a emergency C-section, and thank God she did the surgery. She is great. Her office accepts most of insurances and will file the claims for you. She is affiliated with St.John's. Congratulations and good luck. Dr. Emily Sikking/ 2020 Santa Monica Blvd.
Suite 570, Santa Monica, CA 90404/ ###-###-#### tel

Hi K.,

I STRONGLY recommend Dr. Edwards in Santa Monica at the St. Johns Medical Building. He is FANTASTIC! His staff is so warm they even came to my second baby shower! My first pregnancy was not hi-risk but did have some challenges, with that being said I left Cedars for Dr. Edwards who came highly recommended to me. He made the remainder of my first pregnancy a thrill and the delivery very special that we were thrilled 6 MONTHS later to be pregnant with our second son, great pregnancy and delivery...I can not say enough about him, I also referred several other people to him and they all have had wonderful experiences, he is VERY EXPERIENCED and PROFESSIONAL, he will take and return calls all hours of the day/night. We delivered at St. Johns but he also delivers at UCLA. Hope this helps...F.

Hi K., My OB is Dr Bayati. She delivers at both hospitals. She is also my girlfriends OB and my neighbors as well. She delivered my girlfriends baby and she was impressed and pleased with her. Dr Bayati does all her own deliveries. She is has a great bedside manner, is knowledgeable, progressive, honest and has children of her own. The one downside is that she moved to an office where she is the only OB. The remaining docs are gyno. Her crosscover is another OB office. I can't say enough good things about her. She really cares. Oh, and for what its worth, I am a nurse as well, and very particular about what doctors I choose. Her office is on wilshire and 18th. ###-###-####. Congratulations on your pregnancy!

Hi K. my name is M. and I am an ob/gyn np and worked with so many mds,however when I had a recent gyn problem myself my provider who works with ucla medical group referred me to dr yashari who is an older ob/gyn with much more experience specialy hi risk ob.one of my friend also had a baby last year who was very satisfied with her care recieved by dr yashari.I personally think he is caring md who listen to you and gives many obtions.This is his office ####-###-####.
good luck with your pregnancy.

My doctor, Benafsheh Bayati, practices on 18th and Wilshire in Santa Monica and delivers at St. Johns. She actually could not deliver my baby because he came almost a month early, the week she and her husband were scheduled to take their kids to Hawaii for spring break. My water broke as the plane was on the tarmac, a big surprise because she'd checked me a few days earlier and I was not at all dilated or effaced. She called me from the runway, then called me in the hospital several times, and was so disappointed that she couldn't be there for the delivery. Still, her sweetness and thoroughness leading up to that point, coupled with her calling me from her vacation several times, really struck me as the kind of care a doctor of an older generation (pre-HMO/insurance overtake!) would provide, not someone in her late 30s, such as Dr. Bayati. The doctor who delivered my son was Emily Pushkin, for whom the nurses at St. Johns had nothing but the highest respect. Also, St. Johns was a fantastic place to deliver. We loved our experience and were relieved to be in such a small, intimate place with an excellent nursing staff. Even having had to have an unplanned C-section, it was a great experience and I plan to have any future kids there as well. Good luck and Congratulations!!!

Dr Olivia Crooks is the best and delivered both my boys! She delivers at Santa Monica UCLA and her office is across the street from the hospital. Her number is ###-###-####. 1245 16th St Suite 300, Santa Monica. Congrat's and good luck

the offices of frumovitz, matsunaga, daly, ross, thordarson and vogel have amazing doctors. i love dr daly and dr matsunaga. they deliver at st johns and their quality of care is outstanding.

Dr. Rebecca Perlow is the world's most amazing Doctor...10 of my friends and I have had their babies with her and she is voted favorite doctor by the Doula Association and all the labor/delivery nurses love her. She is so caring and takes the extra time to be there for you in a way that most doctors do not. She is also one of the only doctors that is up on the latest technology and care...something that you don't know to ask about. For example...she uses surgical glue instead of stitches (for a c-section or if you tear vaginally)...which makes the recover soooo much better. She is very accomadating to Doula's and more alternative approaches to childbirth. She is phenomenal! DrPerlow.com

I would suggest Dr. Bliss she is located right near St. Jonh's and the number is ###-###-####. She is a great ob/gyn great sense of humor and very empathetic. JUST a warning....a LOT of women might suggest you go to a Dr. Lisa Masterson. She has a bit of a cult out in Santa Monica...and was stuck having to stay with her to deliver my son....her actual location is beautiful, a spa like house out on ocean ave...but her bed side manner and office staff, as well as the actual WAIT for prenatal visits about KILLED me. I didn't get to switch to Dr. Bliss till post pregnancy but have been with her since days after I delivered and she has been fantastic.Sorry for such strong opinions but Dr. Masterson kinda ruined my first pregnancy experience for me.

Dr. Sheryl Ross (delivers at St. Johns) was my Dr. for my three kids. She is awesome and came very highly recommended to me. I even drove from Glendale for all three because we moved after I started seeing her when I was prego with my first. Only downside is that she is very busy and sometimes there is a long wait in the waiting room.