William Barth, M.D.

Vice Chair of Obstetrics, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Massachusetts General Hospital

Associate Professor, Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School

William H. Barth, Jr, MD, is the Vice Chair of Obstetrics in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Massachusetts General Hospital and a Maternal-Fetal Medicine practitioner. He is the inaugural incumbent of the Fredric D. Frigoletto, MD Massachusetts General Hospital Endowed Chair. He is Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School. He is an Oral Board Examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and is the past Chair of the Committee on Obstetric Practice at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and an Editorial Board Member for the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology. Before retiring as a Colonel in the United States Air Force in 2005, he served as Department Chair at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Chief Consultant to the Surgeon General for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, and Commander of the 407th Expeditionary Medical Group in Iraq. His primary research interests since 1996 have been in the design and conduct of a number of randomized trials in clinical obstetrics and perinatology. His clinical practice and interests are in the areas of preterm birth, cervical insufficiency, multiple gestations and intrapartum obstetrics.

Publications

Prabhu M, Dolisca S, Wood R, James K, Bateman BT, Barth WH Jr, Wylie BJ. Postoperative Opioid Consumption After Scheduled Compared With Unscheduled Cesarean Delivery. Obstet Gynecol. 2019 Jan 8. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000003087.

Prabhu M, Clapp MA, McQuaid-Hanson E, Ona S, OʼDonnell T, James K, Bateman BT, Wylie BJ, Barth WH Jr. Liposomal Bupivacaine Block at the Time of Cesarean Delivery to Decrease Postoperative Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Obstet Gynecol. 2018 Jul;132(1):70-78. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000002649.

Clapp MA, Barth WH. The Future of Cesarean Delivery Rates in the United States. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2017 Dec;60(4):829-839. doi: 10.1097/GRF.0000000000000325.

Naqvi M, Barth WH Jr. Emergency Cerclage: Outcomes, Patient Selection, and Operative Considerations. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2016 Jun;59(2):286-94. doi: 10.1097/GRF.0000000000000197. Review.

Barth WH Jr. Lost in Translation: The Changing Language of Our Specialty. Obstet Gynecol. 2016 Mar;127(3):423-5. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000001326.