Obstetrics and gynecology deals with disorders of a woman’s reproductive system. An obstetrician/gynecologist is sometimes a primary physician for women. The gynecologist treats women and their reproductive systems, but is also concerned with women’s menstrual problems, disorders of pelvic organs, infertility, or cancer of the reproductive organs. Some tests a gynecologist will order or administer are blood tests, a vaginal swab, or X-rays or ultrasound of the pelvic region. An obstetrician can be a gynecologist, and the two practices are closely related.

The obstetrician deals with problems of the woman and fetus during pregnancy and childbirth, and can act as a consultant to other physicians regarding the care of a patient. An obstetrician will see a pregnant woman regularly to check on her health and progress of her pregnancy. Risk factors in a pregnancy include the mother’s diabetes, a previous pregnancy complication, high blood pressure, or heart disease, and will require an obstetrician to check on a woman’s condition more often.

Doctor density varies by specialty and location. The United States has 40,976 practicing obstetricians & gynecologists. Broken out by state, obstetrics & gynecology doctor density in Alabama is 510, in Alaska is 94, in Arizona is 733, in Arkansas is 262, in California is 4,591, in Colorado is 708, in Connecticut is 651, in Delaware is 145, in District of Columbia is 216, in Florida is 2,061, in Georgia is 1,419, in Hawaii is 237, in Idaho is 154, in Illinois is 1,810, in Indiana is 802, in Iowa is 284, in Kansas is 300, in Kentucky is 526, in Louisiana is 606, in Maine is 174, in Maryland is 1,002, in Massachusetts is 1,308, in Michigan is 1,609, in Minnesota is 636, in Mississippi is 331, in Missouri is 812, in Montana is 129, in Nebraska is 212, in Nevada is 259, in New Hampshire is 224, in New Jersey is 1,346, in New Mexico is 235, in New York is 3,216, in North Carolina is 1,267, in North Dakota is 69, in Ohio is 1,513, in Oklahoma is 406, in Oregon is 512, in Pennsylvania is 1,778, in Rhode Island is 202, in South Carolina is 611, in South Dakota is 88, in Tennessee is 835, in Texas is 2,847, in Utah is 311, in Vermont is 84, in Virginia is 1,093, in Washington is 798, in West Virginia is 233, in Wisconsin is 674, and in Wyoming is 53.