Cedar OB-GYN Midwifery and Women's Health — An Honest Editorial Review
Among fertility clinics in California, many South Bay patients begin their family-building journey not at a reproductive endocrinologist's office but at a trusted women's-health practice that can run a baseline workup, manage preconception health, and refer on when the path calls for advanced reproductive technology. Cedar OB-GYN Midwifery and Women's Health — a hybrid physician-plus-midwife practice tucked into a historic house at 200 W Campbell Avenue in downtown Campbell — carries a 5.0 Google rating across 18 reviews and fills that role for Santa Clara County families.
This is important to set straight up front: Cedar is a general OB/GYN and certified nurse-midwife practice, not a reproductive endocrinology clinic. It does not run an IVF lab, does not appear in SART reporting, and does not advertise retrievals, transfers, or donor-gamete programs. What it does offer is a collaborative model in which an experienced OB/GYN works alongside CNMs to provide full-lifespan women's health, prenatal and postpartum care, and low-risk deliveries at Good Samaritan and O'Connor hospitals.
About the Practice
Cedar was established in 2000 and is physician-led by Dr. Mary Margaret O'Neill, MD, a board-eligible obstetrician-gynecologist with roughly four decades of clinical experience who graduated from Creighton University School of Medicine. Dr. O'Neill handles higher-risk and physician-only scope within the practice and collaborates with the CNM team on pregnancy care.
The midwifery team is led by Katherine M. Thanawala, CNM, and includes additional certified nurse-midwives who share the call schedule and continuity panel. CNMs are advanced-practice nurses with graduate degrees in nurse-midwifery who are credentialed by the American Midwifery Certification Board. In California, CNMs are licensed by the Board of Registered Nursing to provide prenatal and postpartum care, attend low-risk births, prescribe medications, perform gynecologic exams, and counsel on preconception health. They are not reproductive endocrinologists.
Services Offered
Services at Cedar include:
- Annual well-woman exams and cervical cancer screening
- Family planning and contraception
- Preconception counseling and cycle-health education
- Full prenatal and postpartum care, with deliveries at Good Samaritan and O'Connor hospitals
- Labor support in a midwifery model, with physician backup for higher-risk situations
- Gynecologic care across the lifespan, including menopause management
- Co-management of low-risk pregnancy between the CNM team and Dr. O'Neill
The practice describes its scope as care for "low-risk women" across the lifespan, with physician involvement for complicated situations and higher-risk pregnancies.
What This Practice Is — and Isn't
Cedar is a good first stop for preconception planning, a baseline GYN workup, and pregnancy care once conception has happened. It is not a fertility clinic in the ART sense. The practice does not advertise:
- In vitro fertilization (IVF) or ICSI
- Egg retrievals or embryo transfers
- A CLIA-certified andrology or embryology lab
- Egg freezing or donor-egg cycles
- Clinical IUI programs
Patients who need advanced reproductive technology are best served by a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist. Our California fertility clinic directory lists the Bay Area REI programs that publish SART outcomes and run full ART laboratories.
Fertility Workup Before an REI Referral
A thoughtful OB/GYN workup can save months before a reproductive endocrinology consult. Standard first-pass testing typically includes cycle day 3 FSH, estradiol, and AMH; TSH and prolactin; an HSG for tubal patency; a pelvic ultrasound for antral follicle count and fibroids; and a partner semen analysis through a reference lab. Patients with regular cycles, no red flags, and donor or partner sperm ready to go may reasonably trial timed intercourse or clinical IUI; patients with blocked tubes, significant male-factor findings, diminished ovarian reserve, or age 38+ after six months of trying are usually best referred directly to an REI. Our how to read IVF success rates guide is a useful primer before a first REI consult.
Patient Experience
Cedar holds a 5.0 Google rating across 18 reviews — a small but unusually clean public record for a practice that has operated in Campbell since 2000. Recurring themes in publicly available reviews point to unhurried visits, continuity with the same midwife across a pregnancy, and a warm front-office culture inside the practice's historic-house setting. The Campbell Avenue location is walkable from the downtown Campbell corridor and convenient to patients across the South Bay.
Insurance and Cost in California
California's SB 729, signed in 2024 and phasing in starting 2025, requires large-group state-regulated commercial plans to cover the diagnosis and treatment of infertility, including IVF. Self-funded (ERISA) employer plans are exempt from the mandate. Routine OB/GYN and midwifery care at a practice like Cedar is typically billed under standard medical and maternity benefits, which is a practical way to start a workup before any IVF authorization is needed. For the full picture, see our fertility insurance mandates by state guide and the IVF cost by state breakdown.
Considering At-Home Insemination?
The South Bay has a large LGBTQ+ and single-parent-by-choice population for whom at-home intracervical insemination (ICI) is often a sensible first step — particularly when there is no known fertility diagnosis and donor sperm is already lined up.
At-home insemination kits from MakeAMom are a one-time purchase, reusable until conception, and arrive in plain, discreet packaging. Many patients run a handful of home cycles in parallel with preconception visits at a midwifery-and-OB/GYN practice like Cedar before escalating to clinical IUI or IVF. If you have a known diagnosis, have been trying 12 months (six if you're over 35), or your provider has recommended IUI or IVF, a board-certified REI is the right next step.
Location and Contact
Address: 200 W Campbell Avenue, Campbell, CA 95008 Phone: (408) 583-0522 (ext. 1 reception, ext. 2 emergencies, ext. 4 medical assistant) Email: info@cedargyn.com Website: cedargyn.com Delivering hospitals: Good Samaritan Hospital and O'Connor Hospital
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Cedar do IVF or IUI? No. Cedar is a hybrid OB/GYN and certified nurse-midwife practice. It does not run an IVF lab, does not advertise clinical IUI, and does not appear in SART reporting. Patients needing ART are referred to a reproductive endocrinologist.
Can I see a midwife instead of the physician? Yes. Cedar's model pairs certified nurse-midwives with Dr. O'Neill, who handles higher-risk and physician-scope care. Low-risk obstetric and gynecologic patients are often primarily seen by a CNM with physician backup.
Does SB 729 mean my fertility care will be covered? It depends on your plan. SB 729 applies to large-group, state-regulated commercial plans; self-funded ERISA plans are exempt. Routine OB/GYN and midwifery care is typically billed under standard medical benefits regardless of SB 729 status. See our fertility insurance mandates by state guide.
Editorial note: Independently written by the Fertlo editorial team; not sponsored. See our editorial policy.