In plain English
Obstetrics and gynecology is one specialty with two halves. Obstetrics is pregnancy, labour and delivery; gynecology is office and surgical care of the reproductive organs. Most train in both, and practice patterns run from full scope to gynecology only.
The sub-specialties are fellowships: maternal-fetal medicine, gynecologic oncology, reproductive endocrinology and infertility, and female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery. Certified nurse midwives practise alongside obstetricians in many delivery settings and are a separate profession with their own licence and their own codes.
Obstetrics is tied to hospitals with a labour and delivery unit, and the number of those units is falling in rural America, so this population is concentrating geographically faster than most specialties. A state-level count of OB-GYNs and a count of the units they can deliver in tell two different stories.
Training and credentials
Medical school, a four-year obstetrics and gynecology residency, then board certification; fellowships add about three years.
Where they practise
Hospital-employed and independent OB-GYN groups, labour and delivery units, ambulatory surgery centres, fertility clinics, community and women's health centres.
Obstetricians and gynecologists on the public record
Counted from what providers file about themselves, with suppression applied before anything is counted, refreshed 2026-10-05. Names, specialties and practice locations are public; work email and phone are for signed-in customers.
| State | On record | With work email | With practice phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 8,387 | 6,286 75% | 8,387 |
| Texas | 6,086 | 4,329 71% | 6,086 |
| New York | 5,676 | 4,179 74% | 5,676 |
| Florida | 5,353 | 3,352 63% | 5,353 |
| Pennsylvania | 3,340 | 2,452 73% | 3,340 |
| Illinois | 3,219 | 2,392 74% | 3,219 |
| Michigan | 2,746 | 1,987 72% | 2,746 |
| North Carolina | 2,687 | 1,919 71% | 2,687 |
Closely related, and where to find them.
Closely related
- Nurse practitioner An advanced practice nurse who diagnoses and prescribes - within the scope the state allows.
- General surgeon The broad abdominal and trauma specialty, and the classification other surgery is filed against.
- Pediatrician The generalist specialty defined by age rather than by organ system.
Find them
- Obstetricians and gynecologists list counts by state, the fields a record carries, a sample record.
- Physicians physician data by specialty, state and employer.
- Obstetricians and gynecologists in New York, NY
- Obstetricians and gynecologists in Los Angeles, CA
- Obstetricians and gynecologists in Houston, TX
- Obstetricians and gynecologists in Miami, FL
- Obstetricians and gynecologists in Chicago, IL
- Obstetricians and gynecologists in Philadelphia, PA
Need the list, not the definition?
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