Maternity care

There is no better place to take your pregnancy journey — from first signs to first steps — than Kaiser Permanente.

As you prepare to welcome your new baby, our expert doctors and responsive care teams are here for you from the beginning to the end of your pregnancy and beyond.

You stay focused on the joy of making memories with your little one. Our exceptional maternity and newborn care teams will be focused on the health of you and your baby.

What makes the way we deliver care superb?

Better prevention

Having a healthy pregnancy is your first step to having a healthy baby. Our physicians partner with you to give you the care and support you need.

Better detection

With comprehensive prenatal care, information, and support, you and your baby will be closely monitored through each trimester.

Better treatment

Our goal is for you to have a happy and healthy pregnancy. With your health care team working hand-in-hand, we can ensure that any complication — from minor to complex — will be addressed by the right physicians to minimize risk and improve outcomes.

OUTCOMES_icon

Better outcomes

Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States is rated 5 out of 5 in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC — and in the top 10% of all health plans nationally — in clinical quality measures for prenatal and postpartum care.1

7,500+ Babies delivered in 2020

170

Ob-gyns

8

Lactation consultants

9

Award-winning labor and delivery premier hospitals2

37+

Medical centers in the area

1,700

Providers to support you through your care journey. Learn more

Better prevention

Healthy pregnancies start well before conception.

Whether it is lifestyle, management of an existing medical condition, recovery from a previous pregnancy, or diet and nutrition, you’re empowered to choose the right obstetrician for you. We make it easy to research, find, and switch doctors — all online. When you find the right match, having someone who you’ll see consistently and who’s also easily accessible by email, helps form a trusting relationship.

Our obstetricians are unique in that they are part of a broader team of doctors from more than 50 specialties. With seamless communication across departments and specialties, everyone who cares for you in preparation for, during, and after pregnancy is connected, working as a team to keep you and your baby healthy. This collaborative approach to care helps us ensure you are ready for a pregnancy and allows us to establish best practices for your care based on the latest medical evidence that leads to better prevention, and ultimately, outcomes. How do we do it? By putting the right specialists on the job to deliver high-quality, personalized care throughout your pregnancy journey.

Better detection

With comprehensive prenatal care, information, and support, you and your baby will be closely followed and cared for through each trimester. Using the right screenings, we can detect issues sooner and provide the care you and your baby need.

Genetic screening and consultations

Genetic screening and consultations with a certified genetic counselor during your first trimester.3 Geneticists can help you and your doctor decide the right genetic screening for your baby, and what to look for during the course of your pregnancy. We have medical geneticists and certified genetic counselors on staff to work with every ob-gyn to ensure you get the most appropriate tests and interpretation and consultation about the results.

Two sonograms

Two sonograms provided to you during your first and second trimesters.
 

Prenatal visits

Prenatal visits every 4-6 weeks in your first and second trimesters, and every 1-3 weeks in your third trimester.

Meet Kiila Johnson, MD, one of our ob-gyns, and hear more about how you can access care.

The key to detection is timing. That’s why each test and each visit is set up when it is—based on key milestones in the development of your baby. But we also excel at detection by making it extraordinarily easy for you to access care. Every Permanente obstetrician offers same-day, in-person urgent appointments or video visits, can speak to you on the phone, or can be emailed at no cost 24/7 (email responses come within two business days).

When it’s more urgent, patients can use our 24/7 medical advice line or come into any Kaiser Permanente Urgent Care centers—many of which are open 24/7—with the comfort of knowing that information from the visit is instantly shared with your obstetrician and specialists through your electronic medical record.

Better treatments

It’s estimated that one in three women in America will have a pregnancy-related complication.4 Whether you have a complex condition or simply run into an unexpected one, we have skilled physician and nurse experts who specialize in high-risk pregnancies. Why is treatment at Kaiser Permanente better?

Coordinated, multi-disciplinary maternity care team

The caliber of physicians available to Kaiser Permanente members is second to none. Their credentials and the rigorous training they are required to complete have prepared them for handling any signs of maternal or fetal distress, including complicated deliveries. We screen our physicians for a patient-first attitude before they join us, so you can be confident you’re receiving personal, high-quality1 care.

They’re all connected

Kaiser Permanente’s integrated health system connects your entire care team. Depending on your needs, your care team could include many physicians and care providers, such as a maternal fetal medicine physician, geneticist, radiologist, endocrinologist, cardiologist, infectious disease specialist, dietician, and others. With your health care team working hand-in-hand, we can ensure that any complication—from minor to complex—will be addressed by the right clinicians to minimize risk and improve outcomes.
 
 

Meet Ameya Kulkarni, MD, a cardiologist, and hear about how he works with a team to ensure his patients have healthy pregnancies.

Comprehensive perinatal (high-risk) program

The Kaiser Permanente Perinatal Service Center is designed to monitor and intervene in high-risk pregnancies to reduce the risk of preterm labor or birth. In addition to our doctors, our registered nurses, who specialize in high-risk obstetrics, can help guide you if you experience complex conditions. You can have peace of mind knowing that the Perinatal Service Center provides you with:

  • Skilled clinicians, including doctors specializing in high-risk pregnancies
  • Physicians who have experience handling complex conditions such as preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, carrying multiples, preterm labor, and advanced maternal age pregnancies.
Award-winning labor and delivery premier hospitals2

Where you give birth is one of the most important decisions you make. Our moms deliver at hospitals with strong records of care, quality, safety, and service. We choose our premier hospitals carefully, with you and your family’s needs top of mind.

Kaiser Permanente obstetricians are located at our premier hospitals 24/7 and have access to your electronic medical records and medical history so they can provide seamless care.

  • Anne Arundel Medical Center, Annapolis, MD
  • Inova Fair Oaks Hospital, Fairfax, VA
  • Holy Cross Hospital, Silver Spring, MD
  • MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC
  • Reston Hospital Center, Reston, VA
  • Stafford Hospital, Stafford, VA
  • St. Joseph Medical Center, Towson, MD
  • Virginia Hospital Center, Arlington, VA

Our premier hospitals are also assessed for the quality of their neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) or systematic ability to transfer babies to the right place of care, when needed. Our primary focus is quality and proven effectiveness, not proximity or cost. We have a specialized neonatologist who monitors the treatment and progress of every baby in one of the NICUs to ensure the right decisions for care and timely discharge of your baby are made.

Your baby’s first days

A healthy birth is just the start of our commitment to your baby’s well-being. To help prevent and address common newborn matters, such as jaundice, cord care, immunization, breastfeeding, and more, we offer the Newborn Care Center at several of our medical centers. Your Newborn Care Center visit can create a seamless transition for your baby to see his or her pediatrician. Our pediatricians and family doctors are highly trained and passionate about what they do. And Kaiser Permanente lactation consultants provide services to mothers at no additional cost as part of the Newborn Care Centers.

Better outcomes

Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States is rated #1 in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC — and in the top 10% of all health plans nationally—in clinical quality measures for prenatal and postpartum care.

Quality reporting agencies across America measure timeliness to care — before and after birth — because of the known linkage to improved outcomes. Third party quality data shows that more pregnant women, and women who just delivered their babies, are seeing their doctors at the right times when they’re in our care than when they have another health plan using a community physician. This means that we can prevent and/or diagnose conditions that may affect the woman’s ability to have a healthy pregnancy and delivery.

For women who just delivered their babies, this means that we can provide the postpartum support needed for conditions like postpartum depression, recovery, and breastfeeding — all of which lead to healthier babies and healthier future pregnancies. And we know it’s all working because members of Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States have a lower than average rate of preterm births before 32 weeks gestation than the community at large, and depend less frequently on C-sections for delivery.

  1. NCQA Commercial Health Plan Ratings 2021.
  2. Premier hospitals are independently owned and operated hospitals, and they contract with Kaiser Foundation Hospitals. The continued availability and/or participation of any facility cannot be guaranteed. Kaiser Permanente reserves the right to relocate, modify, or terminate the location for premier hospitals. For the most up-to-date information, visit kp.org/premierhospitals.
  3. To learn which tests are covered in your health plan, contact the benefits administrator where you work, or call Kaiser Permanente Member Services at 301-468-6000.
  4. www.kidshealth.org/en/parents/medical-care-pregnancy.html