Re: East Bay Obstetricians
Debra Levinsky has years of experience, but her bedside manner was not agreeable to me, the way she talks to nurses and other hospital staff leaves a lot to be desired, and most of all will do things without telling you first.

Re: Need Orinda Lafayette OB GYN
Debra Levinsky is in Lafayette on Moraga Road. I've been with her for almost 20 years and she cared for me during my pregnancy, amongst many other things. I've always found her very easy to talk to, very caring, knowledgeable and responsive. I highly recommend her. (925) 283-5800 Rosie

Re: OB for twins with small call group?
My ob/gyn, Debra Levinsky has a small call group for around here - 6 doctors. When I was pregnant she was on-call two weekdays every week and then they rotated the weekends. I don't know about her twin experience but overall she is very experienced. The doctors I know she shares call with are Streitfeld, Nishimine, and Lizano. Good luck!

Re: OB Gyn for cervical dysplasia
Try Deborah Levinsky. She has offices in Berkeley and Lafayette. I had an abnormal pap smear about 8 years ago and she was my doc. It was adenocarcinoma and the end result was a vaginal partial hysterectomy. She can be brusque and is no-nonsense but gets the job done. Patient

Re: OB for Laporoscopic Hysterectomy
Try Dr. Deborah Levinsky. I know she has much experience with laprascopic oophorectomies (sp?). You can see her reviews in the archives. I like her direct yet caring style. Very practical. Her main office is in Walnut Creek. She is also in Berkeley once a week. She does her procedures at Alta Bates. And by the way, her office staff Becky and Irma are great. anon

Re: Berkeley Oakland Walnut Creek OB GYN
Dr. Levinsky (Walnut Creek and Berkeley on Monday afternoons) seems like a good doc. to me. She took a good amount of time to sit down and work through options with my partner and me recently. It was about a one month wait to get an initial appointment, but her staff have generally been fine to work with and I do like her style. Perhaps to avoid wait times with most doctors, schedlue early-in-the-day appointments (of course, this does not work in a n office where a doc. show up late for work!) I did wait about 20 minutes for my appointment, but that may have been because i was doing initial paperwork. All in all, her practice seems quite workable to me. I have also heard that women like Huibinhua, too. Anon.

Re: Looking for a great East Bay OB GYN
I love Dr. Debra Levinsky. She has offices in Lafayette and Berkeley. I am currently seeing her for my second pregnancy and she saw me through my first as well. In fact, she was the one to deliver my daughter, and I don't know that any of my friends actually had their docs do the deliveries for their babes. She has been around the block a few times, so I am always confident in what she has to say. My first pregnancy was troubled and she was fabulous at giving me the facts in a realistic and compassionate way. And hs eis private practice, so you see her each time, not whichever doc is available. It is nice when the person delivering your child knows who you are and knows your name. preggo mamma

Dr. Levinsky is my doctor (I'm in my 3rd trimester), but I have been thinking about switching, but would like to talk to some people who recently delivered with her (say in the last two years). Do you have any recent experience with her as your OB? What were your impressions about her during labor and delivery; did you have a good experience? Would you be willing to talk to me about your experience by phone? Thanks. Anon

OB Dr. Debra Levinsky: Has she been your doctor in the last two years? What are your thoughts about her during the pre-natal stage and during delivery? Thanks, Andrea

I went past my due date, and she wanted to schedule an induction using my last menstrual period instead of the date I'd be telling her for the whole pregnancy that I'd ovulated, a week later (which had been confirmed by ultrasound). I felt like ''If you didn't believe me when I told you my ovulation date, why do you take my word about my last mentrual period date?''. But I've heard people make the same complaint about many other OBs.

Then I went for the Amniotic Fluid Index test, and had to be induced because my fluid was dangerously low. I was horrified to hear later that that test is sensitive to how much water you drink before it--I would have drunk a lot of water beforehand if I'd known, and it seemed like something the doctor should have told me. Again--I've heard this complaint about many other OBs also, and it sounds like I was in the minority in being overdue but not uncomfortable, not wanting a reason to be induced, etc.

As far as I know, she did a good job with the actual delivery and sewing me up afterwards (I tore). However, as she left the delivery room, she said ''I'll see you tomorrow,'' and then she didn't come the next day. Or the next. I assumed that I was supposed to leave the hospital after a 2 day stay, so after 2 days I asked my nurse what had to happen for me to go home, and found out that they were waiting for Dr. Levinsky to discharge me. The nurses seemed startled when I said I hadn't seen her since delivery. They paged one of the doctors who shares call with her, and he came over to the hospital to discharge me. He looked over my medical records, and said she'd recorded that the delivery had involved forceps--and it hadn't intending to choose another OB next time

Re: Doctor for Endometriosis
I was in excruciating pain until my first endo surgery...it went away for awhile and then came back. Dr. Debra Levinsky did my second endometriosis surgery after I tried and failed for a year to get pregnant. After surgery #2 the pain also went away and I was able to get pregnant right away. Although I felt that sometimes Debra was a bit brusque, I ended up really liking her and I think she did a great job with my surgery. She did not waste time trying other treatments, and also, she didn't force me to try any hormone treatments I didn't want. My first surgeon wanted to send me into a false menopause right away (I was only 28) and told me it was a waste of time to do the surgery because I wasn't planning on getting pregnant (as if the pain were not enough to justify the procedure). So, all in all, my experience with Levinsky was much more positive. Also, I think that if you think you have endo, you probably do. When I would describe my symptoms to my friends with ''normal'' cycles, they were shocked. I eventually diagnosed myself and was right about what I had. I only wish I had had it treated 12 years earlier...perhaps I could have avoided a lot of pain and infertility.

re: dr. debra levinsky I have been going to debra levinsky for over 20 years now. I changed my health care plan so that I could continue going to her when the boundaries of the plan changed. I have had three surgeries with her in attendance, and she delivered my daughter as well. I don't need someone to ''give me warm fuzzies'' and prefer to be spoken to as a participating member of the medical experience. I have found her care to be excellent, and I have complete faith in her medical abilities as well as her ability to communicate what is going on and what possibly could be the side effect/problems encountered. I only hope that she continues practicing forever, as I cannot imagine having to find a replacement who would ever measure up. Susan

Has anyone of you recently experienced prenatal care and baby delivery with Dr Levinsky (office in Lafayette and Berkeley and delivery at Alta Bates). What is your experience ? I have seen a few shared experience on the UCB Newsletter about her but would like to hear people taht had experience with her in the recent past (less than 2 years). Thanks, Anne

She definitely sprang to action when I had a an ultrasound with results that didn't make sense. She met us at Alta Bates at 8:00am for another ultrasound (thought that the baby may have been small for dates) and not only was it her day off, she postponed her breakfast date.

Since this was my second baby, I didn't have the need for a lot of handholding which she didn't really provide. But I felt I got excellent care. Her nurse practitioner, Kim, is lovely. She's warm and reassuring. Hope this helps. Mollie

Here's why:

Mostly, I think she's medically very knowledgable, and she is very calm and not prone to hysteria. She runs her office on a tight ship, which I like, because I never waited for an late appointment -- but at the same time she sould sit down and answer all my questions when I had them.

I will say this: Late in my pregnancy, I heard a rumor she had a high c-section rate. When in labor, I asked the nurse about this and she said that actually she has a low c-section rate and that she was known to be medically extremely competent. She's a true new yorker and not prone to be overly gushy (though she did gush a lot over the baby when she met him!). Sabrina

I have been going to Debra Levinsky (Berkeley/Lafayette) with my second pregnancy and so far have been satisfied with the care- she is a solo practitioner and tends to deliver most of the babies as well. She is a little more "interventionist" than Dr. Royce was (for example, she basically expects an 18 week ultrasound, which Dr. Royce had left entirely up to me), but not to a problematic level. I'm not due until January 30th, so I'll probably have more information in a few months, but so far I would recommend her as an obstetrician, especially as compared to some of the others I visited during my first pregnancy!

My Mom had surgery with Dr Levinsky and I saw her during my pregnancy but she didn;t deliver me. My Mom had her bladder repaired. After three babies, she could not control bladder function well. Dr. Levinsky was great and is looking into many other options as the surgery did not totally fix the problem (although it is much improved). My Mom stays with her and is happy.