As a family physician who considers Santa Barbara County home, I read with sadness the recent stories about Dr. Melissa Drake and the birth community in Santa Barbara County.
This community has many names that includes mothers and babies, their families, OB-GYNS, NPs, PAs, nurses, hospitals, birth centers and home birth. One member of this community that I did not see mentioned in any of the articles or comments related to Dr. Drake and the crisis in maternity care in Santa Barbara is Family Physicians.
Family doctors, like me, are trained in maternity care including birth. In other communities across California and the nation, family doctors deliver babies and are involved in maternity care. In fact, just down the road in Ventura, Family Doctors deliver babies. Goleta Valley Hospital was renowned for having a history of family medicine-centered birth before the birth center there was closed down decades ago.