When celebrities like Hailey Bieber and Khloé Kardashian had their babies, this is the kind of care they received: concierge maternity care. That means one private obstetrician, a doctor who specializes in pregnancy and birth, who follows the pregnancy personally and is there in the delivery room.
It can sound like a perk reserved for famous people. It isn’t. Concierge maternity care is open to anyone who wants to know exactly who will deliver their baby.
This article explains how concierge maternity care differs from having your pregnancy managed by a large hospital’s OB-GYN department, what each one does well, and how it works with Dr. Kim at Yunella Women’s Health in Los Angeles.
What Is Concierge Maternity Care?
Concierge maternity care is a way of organizing a practice, not a different kind of medicine. The doctor deliberately takes on fewer pregnant patients at a time. In exchange for an enrollment fee, each patient gets more of that doctor: every visit, direct access between visits, and the delivery itself.
The prenatal care, meaning the checkups and testing you have during pregnancy, follows the same medical guidelines either way. What changes is who provides it and how much time they have for you.
At Yunella, our concierge maternity program means:
- One physician, start to finish. Dr. Kim attends every prenatal visit and plans his schedule around your due date so he is the one who delivers your baby.
- A direct line. You can reach Dr. Kim by phone or secure text when something can’t wait, instead of going through an answering service.
- Priority scheduling. If he wants to see you, you’re seen that day.
- An ultrasound at every visit. Dr. Kim does the scan himself and goes over it with you in the room.
- Care that continues after birth. He stays reachable through the postpartum period, the weeks of recovery after delivery.
How Does Care Work in a Large Hospital OB-GYN Department?
Large hospital departments and big group practices are built to care for a very high number of patients, safely, around the clock. To do that, they share the work across a team.
In practice, that usually looks like this:
- You see whoever is scheduled. Visits rotate among several doctors, nurse practitioners or midwives. Some departments do this on purpose, so you’ve met most of the team before delivery.
- The doctor on call delivers your baby. That may be someone from the group you’ve met once, or a laborist. A laborist, also called an OB-GYN hospitalist, is a doctor whose job is to stay in the hospital and care for whoever is in labor that shift.
- Visits are short. Schedules are full, so appointments are built around the essential checks.
- After-hours questions go to a call center or a patient portal. The person who answers is often someone who hasn’t met you.
None of this is bad medicine. It’s what a practice looks like when it is built for volume.
What Are the Biggest Differences?
Who you see at each visit. In a large department, it depends on the schedule. In concierge care, it’s the same doctor every time, so you never start your story over.
Who delivers your baby. In a large department, it’s whoever is on call when you go into labor. In concierge care, the plan from day one is that your own doctor delivers. The person making decisions during your labor is the person who has followed your pregnancy since the beginning.
How much time you get. A smaller number of patients means longer appointments, with room for your questions and not only the checklist.
How you reach your doctor. Instead of an answering service and a callback, you have a direct line to the doctor who knows your history.
What happens after delivery. In many practices, postpartum care is a single visit around six weeks. In our program, Dr. Kim stays involved in your recovery well past that, including bleeding and healing, blood pressure, contraception, and how you’re coping.
What Does a Large Hospital Department Do Well?
Plenty, and it’s worth being fair about it.
- There is always a doctor in the building. A laborist is on site at all hours for emergencies.
- It usually works with your insurance plan, with no enrollment fee.
- A team approach suits some people. If you don’t mind who delivers, as long as they’re qualified, this model works well.
If those matter most to you, a hospital department may be the right fit. If knowing your doctor matters more, read on.
Do I Have to Give Up a Top Hospital to Have a Private Doctor?
No, and this is the part people most often get wrong. Where your doctor’s office is and where you deliver are two separate things.
Dr. Kim’s office is not inside Cedars-Sinai. It’s a private office a few minutes away. But he delivers his patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, because he has hospital privileges there, meaning the hospital has approved him to admit and care for his own patients.
That matters because of what Cedars-Sinai is. In the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals 2026-27 rankings, it was named to the national Honor Roll for the 11th year in a row. It also tied for No. 1 in California and in Los Angeles, and its obstetrics and gynecology program ranked No. 1 in Los Angeles.
So you get both. Your visits happen in a quiet private office with one doctor. Your delivery happens at one of the country’s top hospitals, with its labor and delivery nurses, anesthesiologists (the doctors who place epidurals) and newborn intensive care unit (NICU) all there if you need them.
Dr. Kim also knows the hospital well. He spent 15 years on the faculty at Cedars-Sinai training OB-GYN residents, who are doctors completing their specialty training, and served as Assistant Program Director. He has delivered more than 7,000 babies over nearly thirty years.
You don’t give up access to specialists either. We work with the Center for Fetal Medicine, led by the world-renowned Dr. Lawrence Platt. It’s a maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) practice, meaning its doctors have extra training in high-risk pregnancies and detailed pregnancy ultrasound. It’s in the building right next door, about a three-minute walk from our office.
Every one of our patients has two key scans there:
- The NT scan, short for nuchal translucency. It’s an ultrasound at around 11 to 13 weeks that measures a small pocket of fluid at the back of the baby’s neck, as an early screen for certain genetic conditions.
- The 20-week anatomy scan, a detailed look at your baby’s organs, growth and development.
If you’re in network with us, you’re in network with their office as well.
If your pregnancy is higher risk, Dr. Kim provides high-risk pregnancy care himself, with Dr. Platt’s team next door whenever an MFM’s opinion is needed.
What If Dr. Kim Can’t Be at My Delivery?
Babies don’t check calendars. Dr. Kim plans his time away around his patients’ due dates, and in nearly every case he is the doctor who delivers.
When he can’t be there, for example if a baby comes very early or two patients go into labor at the same hour, you aren’t handed to a stranger. He names his covering physician in advance, gives them your history himself, and stays reachable.
What Is It Like to Be a Patient at Yunella?
A few things we promise every concierge maternity patient:
- We will call you back—always. That’s a guarantee. We usually take care of what you need the same day.
- We take the stress off you. Pregnancy comes with enough to think about. We handle the scheduling, the follow-up and the coordination, so you can focus on what really matters: yourself and your baby.
- We care for you as a family. Your partner, or anyone else you’d like to bring, is welcome at every appointment. They’re part of this, and we treat them that way.
We’re extremely proud of the care we provide, and we’re not all talk. Listen to what Tessa has to say about her care with us, and read our patient reviews for yourself.
What About Privacy?
This is one reason well-known patients choose private obstetric care, and it’s available to every patient in our program.
- Messages go through secure, encrypted systems that meet HIPAA, the federal health privacy law.
- For patients who need extra confidentiality, we can arrange in advance for the hospital to register you under a pseudonym, a substitute name.
- A small practice means fewer people handle your information, and a quieter waiting room.
Who Is Concierge Maternity Care For?
You don’t have to be famous. It’s designed for anyone who cares a great deal about:
- Knowing who will deliver their baby
- Having one doctor who knows their whole history
- Being able to reach that doctor directly
- Having enough time at each visit to ask everything
It’s an especially good fit if this is your first baby, if you’re pregnant after 35, if a past pregnancy was complicated, or if you felt rushed or unheard last time.
How Do I Choose? Questions to Ask Any Practice
Whichever way you’re leaning, ask these before you commit:
- Who will I see at my prenatal visits? Will it be the same person?
- Who will deliver my baby if I go into labor at 3 a.m. on a Sunday?
- If my doctor is away, who covers, and will they know my history?
- How do I reach someone after hours, and who answers?
- How long is a typical visit?
- Where will I deliver?
- How long does care continue after the birth?
The answers will tell you more than any brochure.
How Does Enrollment Work at Yunella?
You don’t have to decide right away.
- Before 10 weeks: Start with a first visit and an early ultrasound to confirm the pregnancy. There’s no commitment at this stage.
- At about 10 weeks: Once your pregnancy is established, you decide whether to enroll in concierge maternity care for the rest of your pregnancy.
- From there: Prenatal visits with Dr. Kim, monthly at first and then more often as your due date gets closer, followed by delivery at Cedars-Sinai and postpartum care.
Not pregnant yet? A preconception visit is a good way to meet Dr. Kim and plan ahead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is concierge maternity care medically better? The medical standards are the same in both models. The difference is continuity, meaning one doctor who knows your whole pregnancy, plus time and access. Many patients find that makes it easier to raise concerns early and to feel calm going into labor.
Where will I deliver? At Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, with Dr. Kim.
Is Dr. Kim’s office at Cedars-Sinai? No. Our office is a private practice at 6330 San Vicente Blvd, a few minutes from the hospital. Your visits are here, and your delivery is at Cedars-Sinai.
What if my pregnancy is high-risk? Dr. Kim has particular experience with high-risk pregnancies, and seeing the same doctor at every visit makes small changes easier to catch. If you need a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, we work with the Center for Fetal Medicine, led by Dr. Lawrence Platt, in the building next door.
What if I need a cesarean? A cesarean, or C-section, is a delivery by surgery. Dr. Kim performs it himself at Cedars-Sinai. If you’ve had one before and hope for a vaginal birth this time, ask about VBAC, which stands for vaginal birth after cesarean.
I’m already pregnant and seeing another doctor. Can I switch? Often, yes. Call us and we’ll tell you honestly whether the program fits where you are in your pregnancy.
How often will I see my baby on ultrasound? At every prenatal visit. Most offices listen to the heartbeat for a few seconds with a handheld device. Dr. Kim does an ultrasound himself each time. Your NT scan and 20-week anatomy scan are done next door at the Center for Fetal Medicine. After 20 weeks, the program also includes bonding sessions, which are unhurried, non-medical scans just for seeing your baby.
Can my partner come to appointments? Yes, always. We welcome your partner or anyone you’d like to bring.
How long does care continue after the birth? Past the usual six-week visit. Dr. Kim stays reachable through the “fourth trimester,” the first three months after delivery.
Concierge Maternity Care at Yunella Women’s Health
You should know who is delivering your baby. Dr. Kim accepts a limited number of concierge maternity patients each month, which is what makes every promise in this article possible.
Read more about our concierge maternity program, or call 424-404-8832 to book a 20-minute consultation.
Medically reviewed by David Seil Kim, MD, PhD · Last reviewed: [October 7th, 2026]
This article is for education and does not replace individualized medical advice.