obstetrician

American  

[ob-sti-trish-uhn] / ˌɒb stɪˈtrɪʃ ən /

noun

• obstetricians
  plural

1. a physician who specializes in obstetrics. OB, ob

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obstetrician British  

/ ˌɒbstɪˈtrɪʃən /

noun

1. a physician who specializes in obstetrics

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• obstetricians
  plural

Etymology

Origin of obstetrician

First recorded in 1820–30; from Latin obstetrīci(a) “midwifery” (noun use of feminine of obstetrīcius ) + -an; see origin at obstetric

Explanation

If you were born in the United States, probably the first doctor you ever laid eyes on was an obstetrician, a medical doctor who delivers babies. In many parts of the world, it’s more likely that a midwife would welcome you into the world. But even though an obstetrician is a medical doctor and can be male or female, the name goes back to the Latin word for midwife, obstetrix, the woman who "stands in front [of the woman having the baby]." Obstetricians are often called “O.B.,” for short, and an O.B. who also treats diseases of the female reproductive system is called an “O.B.-G.Y.N.,” “obstetrician-gynecologist.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

obstetrician obstetricians

Bendall, who is a maternal foetal medicine specialist and obstetrician, said such a pregnancy was very high-risk, with the hospital admitting Na'amoana as an inpatient at 25 weeks so she could be monitored.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

Yet because of their uncommon family structure, it wasn’t until just minutes before the obstetrician cut into her belly that the father of her child got permission to go with her into the operating room.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2026

Throughout her first pregnancy, Wang Yifan had lots of questions, which she usually put to renowned obstetrician Duan Tao -- or rather, an AI clone of the top Shanghai-based doctor.

From Barron's ● Mar. 3, 2026

Middle-aged women who were suffering from depression were often prescribed anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medicine without further discussion or exploration, said Dr. Anna Barbieri, an obstetrician gynecologist and certified menopause practitioner in New York City.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026

Her obstetrician, Dr. Ashley, gauntly handsome in a Lord Mountbatten sort of way, with fine sand-colored hair swept back from his temples, arrives to examine her progress.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

But that stuff doesn’t make her a fertility doctor, or even a scientist who has contributed meaningfully to the evidence base that obstetricians like me use in our work.

From Slate ● Apr. 16, 2026

Professional societies representing obstetricians continue to say pregnant women should use acetaminophen to treat pain and fever.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2025

Hospitals like Renk Referral have lost half their staff, including surgeons, obstetricians, paediatricians, putting an enormous strain on the remaining medics.

From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2025

No list of exceptions can encompass every situation and risk a patient might face, obstetricians said.

From Salon ● Feb. 21, 2025

Does this mean that fat obstetricians deliver babies that have one set of personality characteristics, and skinny ones deliver babies that have quite different characteristics?

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos