About Dr. Fischbein

The journey through life is a marvelous adventure. Full of twists and turns and directions you could never have predicted. Like every other ob/gyn resident I began my training at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in the early 1980s learning the medical model of pregnancy as "illness". As a rotating resident at Los Angeles County-USC Women’s hospital I had the good fortune to be exposed briefly to the midwifery model amongst the chaos that was the labor floor in those days. While I gained priceless experience during my training at USC there was very little nurturing or respect for the process. It was only when observing the midwives demeanor and manner did I file away a bit of insight into a different idea about birthing. After residency I was approached by a midwifery practice in Culver City and asked if I would be their backup physician. I was delighted at the opportunity and slowly, through the early years of my professional career, I began to develop the relationships and experience that have shaped my current journey.

I began my office based practice in Century City in 1986 where I still spend some time to this day. I was Board Certified in 1989 and am a Fellow in the American College of Ob/Gyn. In 1995 I co-founded The Woman’s Place for Health and Midwifery Care in Ventura County California. This was an innovative collaboration between midwives and doctors providing an alternative option for women using traditional hospital based birthing. Common sense has shown me that midwives care for normal birth better than most physicians and the results and outcomes studies have consistently shown that the midwifery model is a better choice for low risk women. I am honored to be associated with those that are skilled in the practice of midwifery and am a strong believer that collaboration between doctors and midwives provides clients with the best care.

In 2004, the 1st edition of Fearless Pregnancy, Wisdom and Reassurance from a Doctor, a Midwife and a Mom was published. My co-authors and I wrote this in response to the overall trend in the media to sensationalize birth and fill the print media and airwaves with anxieties and fears about pregnancy. I believe that nature knows what it is doing almost all the time and a trust in the process leads to a calmness that makes a natural birth so much more likely. This past June of 2010 we published the 2nd edition of Fearless Pregnancy in hopes of continuing to help women and families understand that pregnancy is a normal function of your body and not a disease requiring treatment.

I have had the privilege of speaking at conferences in Ottawa, Canada and Fort Worth, Texas on breech birth and vaginal birth after c/section and giving some lectures locally. I was honored by the Doulas Association of Southern California with their physician of the year award twice and was their first recipient of a Lifetime Achievement award for more than 20 years of service and support of women’s choices in natural childbirth. I am a strong believer in the role of a doula in labor and would encourage all pregnant women to consider looking carefully at this option. You are less likely to require any medical intervention in your labor when you have a doula. This past year I was also honored by the Trust Birth Conference for my work in support of advocating for birth as normal.

Recently, another one of those twists and turns in the journey has led me to the decision to support the choice of out of hospital birthing for women in our community. My advocacy for low risk birth as a natural process and for allowing women the right to true, not skewed, informed consent and refusal of choices has not always met with the acceptance it deserves in the organized medical community. Other factors which I realize are unlikely to change have made my decision to begin to use my skills in a non-hospital setting an easy and gratifying one. I have had the good fortune to have made many dear and meaningful relationships in the birthing community. One of these special persons is Karni Seymour-Brown, LM. Karni has been serving women and delivering babies in our community for over 30 years. She is the founder of the Sunrise Birth Center in Ventura. Karni and I will be working together to combine the wonderful skills and wisdom that we have acquired over so many years. I am honored to be collaborating with Karni and together we hope your birth experience will be joyous and fulfilling whatever direction you choose.

Stuart Fischbein, MD