DPC Myth #11: You Can’t Do OB in DPC
Please excuse any typos in this article—I’m writing it while holding a newborn I delivered about six hours ago, and the combination of meconium and vernix makes typing a bit less than efficient. Also, as this is the fourth delivery I’ve attended in the past month, I’m running on significantly less sleep than usual.
Here’s a fun one: apparently, you cannot practice obstetrics or hospital medicine if you run a DPC practice—or at least that’s what I’ve been told. I’m not entirely sure where this myth originated, but I have a sneaking suspicion it came from people who fundamentally misunderstand what you can and can’t do in DPC.
Let me clear this up: DPC is a payment model, not a medical specialty. It defines how patients pay you, not what medicine you can practice.
DPC Is Liberation, Not Restriction
Here’s what people miss: DPC isn’t restrictive. It’s liberating. Traditional insurance-based practice restricts you—dictating what services to offer, what procedures you can bill for, how long appointments should be. DPC removes all of that.
It allows you to practice the medicine you were trained to practice, the way you know it should be practiced. You get to make the decisions about your scope of practice, not an insurance company, not a hospital administrator, not some consultant who’s never actually delivered a baby.
How OB Works in My Practice
I’ve been doing DPC since 2014 and providing obstetrical care for nearly 20 years. We offer OB as a separate package—one flat fee covering everything from first prenatal visit through delivery through postpartum care. This is one of the few “extra” services we provide outside of membership. Multiple rural hospitals across the state have stopped providing obstetrical services, so many patients have to travel two hours just to get prenatal care, let alone delivery care.
Our pregnancy package includes all prenatal visits, lab testing in our office, bedside ultrasounds as needed, me being there for delivery, first assist for c-sections if needed, hospital care for mom and baby, and all postpartum visits.
For patients that have some type of third-party insurance coverage, the hospital bills that coverage. For patients that don’t, they negotiate the facility fees with the hospital themselves.
You Get to Decide
That’s the point. You get to decide. Not someone else telling you what you can and can’t do.
Some DPC physicians don’t maintain hospital privileges or deliver babies because they believe that they can’t. Others, because they decide not to. It’s your choice, no one else’s. Some physicians transition to DPC to escape hospital medicine. That’s perfectly valid. But in DPC, you choose. If hospital medicine burned you out, you can walk away. If you love delivering babies, you can keep doing it. Nobody gets to tell you what kind of physician you should be.
The real considerations are personal and logistical. Can I maintain hospital privileges while running DPC? Yes. Can I get malpractice coverage for OB? Yes. Can I balance unpredictable deliveries with office-based practice? Yes.
The Bottom Line
Providing obstetrical care in Direct Primary Care is a decision YOU make, not one made by someone else. If you love delivering babies, do it. If you’ve been away from OB and want to get back into it, I’d love to have you join me.
I’ve been pulled out of bed at three in the morning. I’ve rescheduled office patients because I was up all night at a delivery. But guess what? My patients LOVE that I, and my awesome-stellar-absolutely-butt-kicking colleague, Dr. Krystel Elliott-Theberge, deliver babies. My patients understand that delivering babies is part of what I do. The DPC model gave me the freedom to structure my practice this way.
Practicing medicine the way I want….that’s liberation.
Now, wait a minute…is that meconium in my pocket?
This DPC Mythbuster Series aims to debunk the most common fears, misconceptions, and half-truths that deter doctors from embracing Direct Primary Care. These opinions are from each individual blogger. You may or may not agree with them, but either way, leave a comment with your thoughts.
