Women's Health Providers

Women's Health Providers in United States

United States

Women’s health providers — including obstetricians, gynecologists and midwives — address reproductive health such as pregnancy, contraception (birth control) and menopause, as well as long-term health and wellness. They provide important preventive health services for women of reproductive age, including:

• Breast and cervical cancer screening.
• Contraception counseling.
• HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STI) testing and screening.
• Diabetes testing.

Moreover, women’s health providers give prenatal care during pregnancy. They provide tailored care based on the pregnant person’s medical needs and concerns and monitor for high-risk pregnancy conditions. Of note, many women of reproductive age choose to see a family or internal medicine doctor for well-woman visits rather than an obstetrician or gynecologist.

The number of women’s health providers is higher in urban areas compared with rural areas.

Strategies to increase access to, and use of, women’s health providers include: 

• Leveraging federal loan and scholarship funds for women’s health care professionals, especially in underserved areas. 
• Expanding the scope of practice for nurse midwives. 
• Expanding and extending insurance coverage for maternal care, especially in rural areas.  
• Implementing culturally tailored mother-children programs such as the Family Spirit program and American Indian Infant Health Initiatives.

Healthy People 2030 does not specifically address increasing the number of women’s health providers but has several goals related to cancer screening, family planning, pregnancy and childbirth, including increasing the proportion of pregnant women who receive early and adequate prenatal care and reducing preterm births.

“ACOG Committee Opinion No. 586: Health Disparities in Rural Women.” 2014. Obstetrics & Gynecology 123 (2): 384–88. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.AOG.0000443278.06393.d6.

“Improving Access to Maternal Health Care in Rural Communities.” 2019. Issue Brief. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. https://www.cms.gov/About-CMS/Agency-Information/OMH/equity-initiatives/rural-health/09032019-Maternal-Health-Care-in-Rural-Communities.pdf.

Tikkanen, Roosa, Munira Z. Gunja, Molly FitzGerald, and Laurie Zephyrin. 2020. “Maternal Mortality and Maternity Care in the United States Compared to 10 Other Developed Countries.” The Commonwealth Fund. https://doi.org/10.26099/411v-9255.

Wyn, Roberta, Victoria Ojeda, Usha Ranji, and Alina Salganicoff. 2004. “Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Women’s Health Coverage and Access To Care: Findings from the 2001 Kaiser Women’s Health Survey.” Issue Brief. KFF. https://www.kff.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/racial-and-ethnic-disparities-in-women-s-health-coverage-and-access-to-care.pdf.