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Do Women Prefer Female Obstetricians?

From the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Health Policy, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, New York; Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, Department of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut; and Clinical Epidemiology Unit, West Haven Veterans Affairs Medical Center, West Haven, Connecticut.

Address reprint requests to: Elizabeth A. Howell, MD, MPP, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Department of Health Policy, One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1077, New York, NY 10029-6574; E-mail: elizabeth.howell{at}mountsinai.org.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate gender preferences for obstetricians in a hospital setting and to examine its relationship to patient satisfaction.

METHODS: Using methods of qualitative analysis, we interviewed a convenience sample of 67 obstetric patients during their postpartum hospital stay, asking open-ended questions about gender preferences of health care providers and satisfaction with health care.

RESULTS: Overall, 58% of patients (n = 39) had no preference for physician gender, 34% (n = 23) preferred female physicians, and 7% (n = 5) preferred male physicians. Physicians’ interpersonal style, communication style, and technical expertise were considered important characteristics by patients. Although most patients had no preference for physician gender, the majority of patients preferred a female nurse. Patient satisfaction scores were not associated with physician gender.

CONCLUSION: Our study found that a majority of women did not prefer a female obstetrician. Our results suggest that physician gender is less important to patients than other physician characteristics.

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