The following is a list of some of the more common services an OBGYN can provide for their patients.
Women’s health services
A short list of routine women’s health services includes pap smears, breast cancer screenings, gynecological cancer screenings, pelvic pain evaluations and urinary incontinence treatment. Additional health and wellness services may include nutrition programs, prenatal yoga classes, pregnancy classes, or educational workshops that teach women how to be healthy and happy.
Pregnancy care
OBGYNs offer women pre-pregnancy planning services, prenatal care, pregnancy care and postpartum care. Since pregnant women will see their OBGYN often, it is important that they choose one they feel very comfortable with and trust accordingly. Additional pregnancy, labor and delivery services include genetic screening, nurse midwifery, gestational diabetes management and breastfeeding education, as well as further precautionary tests and services for women of advanced maternal age (generally age 35 and over).
Surgical procedures
An OBGYN can perform a number of surgical procedures, including but not limited to hysterectomies, endometrial ablations, colposcopies, dilation and curettage and transvaginal ultrasounds. Many of the surgical procedures performed by an OBGYN are minimally invasive.
Specialty care
The majority of OBGYNs are generalists. Some also have training in various subspecialties, though, such as reproductive endocrinology and infertility or gynecologic oncology, which deals with diagnosing and treating cancers affecting a woman’s reproductive system.