Why It’s Getting Harder to Find an OB/GYN

You’ve had the same OB/GYN for years, and she’s great—but on your last visit, she mentioned she’s thinking about retiring. The problem: In your community, you’ve heard that unless you’re on track to eventually have a baby, you might not be able to get an OB/GYN to accept you as a patient. What?! Looking into this further, you hear scary stories about a friend’s elderly mom not being able to find postmenopausal care, and women being told to just find a GP who does Pap smears.

This is obviously bad—and it’s becoming more and more common. “There’s an OB/GYN shortage relative to patient demand, and this shortage continues to worsen,” says Catherine R. McManus, Ph.D., R.D.N., L.D., assistant professor of nutrition at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and assistant professor of OB/GYN and reproductive biology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, who works in women’s health advocacy. “A recent study showed that in 2025, the OB/GYN workforce met only about 93% of the demand for OB/GYNs in the U.S. This gap is projected to widen. Doctors are retiring faster than they can be replaced, and OB/GYNs are doctors who have the highest malpractice risk.”

Breaking the numbers down further, Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF)’s latest statistics found that there are only 38 practicing OB/GYNs per 100,000 women in the United States. KFF also reports that nearly half of U.S. counties lack OB/GYNs, and 7% of women live in one of these counties. Also, U.S. counties with the highest populations of people of color had access to only 43% of OB/GYNs in health networks, while counties with the lowest populations of people of color had 69% access to OB/GYNs in health networks.

If you live outside a major city, your chances of finding a new OB/GYN are also lower. A 2026 study from the Medical University of South Carolina found that OB/GYNs are unevenly distributed across the U.S., with fewer doctors projected to practice in Utah, Idaho, and Arizona specifically over the next decade.

With all this going on, how can women get the care they need?

In many cases, doctors have too many patients to see already. “I think one of the biggest challenges in health care today is that the system rewards volume, not time,” says Thaïs Aliabadi, M.D., an OB/GYN affiliated with Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles, and co-host of the SHE MD podcast. “Most physicians are under enormous pressure to see more patients in less time, and unfortunately women’s health often suffers because of it.”

You know the drill: you get almost zero face time with a doctor who speeds through your appointment, often leaving you with more questions than answers. “Medically, women’s health has become increasingly complex,” Dr. Aliabadi continues. “Today’s OB/GYN is managing everything from fertility, PCOS/PMOS, endometriosis, and fibroids to menopause, cancer prevention, cardiovascular risk, genetics, and mental health. Many patients have been searching for answers for years before they walk through our doors. These are not 10-minute conversations, yet the system is structured as if they are.”

This can put patients in a very tough position. “What saddens me most is that the patients who struggle the hardest to find care are often the ones who need it the most,” Dr. Aliabadi says. “Women with complex hormonal issues, chronic pelvic pain, endometriosis, infertility, menopause symptoms, or elevated cancer risk frequently have difficulty finding physicians with the time and resources to truly evaluate them.”

It is true—it might be because you don’t want to get pregnant. “Prenatal care, delivery, and postpartum care are often bundled into a single package that can generate revenue across the course of a pregnancy,” says Dr. McManus. “On the other hand, preventive care, including exams, contraception counseling, and breast screenings, are typically billed as individual outpatient visits, which provides less revenue.”

This policy is often set by insurance companies. “In the U.S., health insurance companies play an important role in financing and making health care available,” Dr. McManus continues. “They are required to cover essential health services. However, while patient health and care are vital components of most private health insurance companies’ models, we must remember that these companies operate as businesses. There’s substantial evidence that some cost containment strategies employed by many health insurance companies can compromise both the quality and quantity of care patients receive.”

This also makes you less likely to be accepted by an OB/GYN if you’re a woman in midlife. “Insurance companies placing profits ahead of patient care is a big reason why physicians are leaving medicine, or shifting their practice models,” says Heather Hirsch, M.D., M.S., MSCP, founder of the Menopause and Midlife Clinic at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and a perimenopause/menopause expert. “The reality is that when insurance companies start dictating care, they’re often offering fewer care options. For women in perimenopause and menopause, that’s particularly damaging. These are patients who already wait an average of seven years to get a correct diagnosis. They can’t afford to also be fighting with an insurance company over whether their symptoms are ‘medically necessary’ enough to treat.”

Doctors may also determine that they won’t make enough money even if they do accept more patients. “OB/GYNs are among the most under-reimbursed specialists relative to the complexity of care they provide,” says Dr. Hirsch. “They’re managing reproductive health, hormonal health, surgical care, and mental health—often in a single visit!—and getting reimbursed as if it’s a routine checkup. When you factor in the overhead of running a practice, malpractice insurance, and the administrative burden of dealing with insurers, the math simply doesn’t work for many of them. Taking on more patients doesn’t always mean making more money, and it certainly doesn’t mean providing quality care.”

Because of the high-pressure environment they work in, many OB/GYNs deal with both mental and physical exhaustion. According to a report from Medicus Health Solutions, 55% of surveyed OB/GYNs reported being burned out, depressed, or both.

“OB/GYNs are on call at all hours, managing high-stakes situations constantly, and doing it inside a system that doesn’t adequately support them,” says Dr. Hirsch. “At some point, self-preservation kicks in, and often brings with it a closed patient panel.”

This doesn’t mean a doctor wants to refuse you, however. “Many doctors are working nights, weekends, and taking calls while trying to care for growing numbers of patients,” Dr. Aliabadi notes. “Some are simply at capacity, not because they don’t want to help, but because they want to provide safe, thoughtful care, and know they can’t do that if they continue stretching themselves thinner.”

Your first step is to contact your health plan network and find out which doctors are available closest to you. Know that you may have to travel to another city to see one. “There are fewer OB/GYNs outside of cities and in rural areas,” says Dr. McManus. “Also, many OB/GYNs pursue a fellowship for specialized training. This reduces the number of general OB/GYNs who can provide care across the complete spectrum of women’s reproductive health. OB/GYNs may turn away patients who don’t align with the area or areas they concentrate on.”

At the same time, make the effort to see if there are quality OB/GYNs accepting patients in your closer vicinity. Dr. McManus recommends the following three strategies to increase your chance of success:

1. Ask people you know. “Reach out to family members and friends who have similar needs to yours, to suggest a doctor,” Dr. McManus says. “Ask your primary care physician for recommendations or referrals, too. A really important thing to do is probe. If someone tells you ‘I love my OB/GYN,’ ask them why, specifically.”
2. Read online reviews. Don’t stop at counting stars, though. “Read the comments and see if you identify any themes—either positive or negative—to help you get a sense of not only the provider’s knowledge and skills, but just as importantly, their interpersonal skills,” Dr. McManus says.
3. Verify credentials and experience. Confirm an OB/GYN’s board certification through the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. This lets you make sure a doctor’s expertise aligns with your medical needs, like contraception, menopause, PCOS, fertility, and LGBTQ+ care.

When you find an available OB/GYN, make an initial appointment to see if the doctor is a good fit for you personally. You do have choice and power here. If you don’t personally like your OB/GYN, it’s better in many cases to keep looking, rather than be uncomfortable every time you go for care.

“My mom used to tell me years ago, whenever I went on an interview for a new job, ‘Remember that you’re interviewing them just as much as they’re interviewing you,’” says Dr. McManus. She recommends watching for the following flags when you meet a new OB/GYN:

 Green flags

• The doctor asks open-ended questions, and invites you to ask questions
• They’re willing to explain the reasons for tests and treatments, as well as their benefits and risks
• They show that they respect a patient’s opinions and decisions

Red flags

• They interrupt you frequently
• They appear rushed or preoccupied
• They dismiss your symptoms without telling you why, or not doing a thorough exam.

If your general practitioner does gynecological exams, keep going to them for that purpose.

If not, contact your local hospital system and ask if there are affiliated OB/GYNs who treat outpatients in clinic. You can also contact your local community health resources, such as federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), and free clinics, which must accept all patients by law.

The bottom line: Don’t give up, don’t go without care—and know your body, so you can seek the OB/GYN treatment that’s absolutely right for you.