Poornima Kaul, MD

Dr. Poornima Kaul did an amazing job with my c section. Aside from the surgery itself, she was so calming and made me feel very comfortable. I was nervous because Laurie Green is my doctor and she wasn’t there. Once I met Dr. Kaul, I felt like I was in great hands and I was right. Thank you for getting my baby out safely. Please read my cpmc hospital review for more on my delivery experience.
I cannot thank you enough!!!

I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Dr. Kaul. I have referred many of my friends to her as well because my experience was so positive– and they love her too! She is kind, professional, and intelligent. I highly recommend her!

Have been to see dr kaul several times over the past 2 years and she has been very patient, professional, thoughtful, and kind. Highly recommend.

Dr Kaul is a fantastic doctor. For the past 6 months I have had a medical mystery and she stayed on top of it the whole time, while I saw over 15 doctors.
She is very positive and encouraging and I am happy I found a OB that makes me feel like I am cared for.

Dr. Kaul is hands down one of the best physicians I’ve ever had! She is patient, kind and makes herself very available via e-​mail or phone to answer all of my questions. Besides being incredibly knowledgable, her bedside manner is truly the best and she never makes me feel rushed or like I am asking too many questions. I also like the fact that she is young and bright and very up to date with the latest research and practices. I feel truly lucky to have found her!

It has taken me over two years to write this review. Dr. Kaul oversaw the end of my labor at CPMC. Her bedside manner needs work. Before I even started pushing she mentioned c-​section. She refused to let me try alternative positions to deliver our posterior son vaginally and after less than an hour of pushing I was wheeled into the operating room completely confused. This experience ruined my following pregnancy and left me terrified of delivering in a hospital again. Maybe I needed surgery and maybe I didn’t, but her lack of respect for me led me to seek care at UCSF for my next pregnancy and guess what? I had a successful VBAC with another posterior baby by laying on my side. This review would be zero stars except she did a good job with the surgery and my scar (although incredibly crooked) is almost invisible.

Reading some of the reviews below I am not sure these people are talking about the same Dr. Kaul that I see.
At every appointment she has been patient, always taking time to answer questions and address concerns. She is very knowledgeable, however if there is a question she does not immediately know the answer she always follow up with the answer by phone call or at the next visit
I seriously have not met a doctor, who cares more about her patients. I started seeing Dr. Kaul shortly before I got pregnant. Through out my pregnancy she was not only there to answer all my questions, but also to help me deal with my crazy and emotional self. She even came in to deliver my little guy in the middle of the night.
She is very sweet, kind and good natured. She listens and takes the time to discuss options and realistic possibilities. She has fantastic bedside manner and really makes me wish there were more doctors like her out there.

Dr. Kaul is great. I used to work with her when I was the NP at her practice and I saw first-​hand how much she cares about her patients. When it came time that I needed a GYN and now an OB, I of course wanted her as my doc. I’ve referred a number of my friends to her and they’ve all been very happy and loved her too. Thanks Dr. Kaul!

I went on Unilocal today to see if my Ob/​Gyn was on here because I’d just heard a girlfriend say she’s always surprised that doctors have Unilocal profiles. I’m really, really shocked to see these negative reviews of Dr. Kaul! I’ve been a patient for over 4 years and I have appreciated, so much, her candid nature and her ability to answer my many questions with grace and always a lot of knowledge. I’ll admit she definitely has her opinions and does like to gently push patients to certain birth controls perhaps, and I had a horrible experience on one she recommended, but I also appreciate a doctor who has her opinions and gives them openly. After all, she’s the one who went to medical school, not I! I have not had any serious vaginal/​ovarian surgery nor given birth like the other two reviewers so I cannot speak to her skills in that regard, but I have recommended her to many friends and cannot speak highly enough of her manner and care and thoughtfulness to the treatments and issues that I’ve had thus far.
Anyway, for anyone looking to Unilocal to find a new doctor, wholeheartedly give her these 5 stars…

When I gave birth, I happened to majorly strike out and get Dr. Poornima Kaul, who was insensitive, pushy, mean, impatient, and hurried. Within the first ten minutes of admitting me in the very beginning stages of labor, she refused to discuss delivery options other than a c-​section because it was an attempted vbac. She did not believe in vbac deliveries. Despite my having planned (with Dr. Green’s blessing) on trying for one, Dr. Kaul made it clear that I was going to end up with a c section on her watch and proceeded to bully me to have one. She was awful, she made me cry, she made my husband angry. Wonderful CPMC gyn nurses who were on duty took care of me and quietly overruled some of her advice, which was helpful. But I cannot stress just how miserable she made my labor experience. I truly still have flashbacks of it.

HORRIBLE DOCTOR!!! She fired me as patient two weeks prior to surgery just because I asked alot of questions about my upcoming surgery and complained about being rescheduled for surgery 3 times. She is unprofessional, unethical and did not perform her due diligence and lacks sensitivity. She does not like alot of questions and never once apologized for the stress I was under having to deal with 3 rescheduled surgeries and possible ovarian cancer.
On a first office visit in Aug 2012 she performed a vaginal exam. Then after experiencing alot of discharge problems I went in again 4 mo’s later in December 2012. She then discovered a Polyp (which was missed in August and after surgery turned out to be a Fibroid so she misdiagnosed). I then went for a ultrasound to find out the size and location of the polyp. The ultrasound also found a cyst on one of my overies. I then went for blood tests to determine if the cyst were cancerous. One blood test was fine the other she said she was concerned about. She said the cyst had to be removed along with the polyp. She was never gentle about delivering the news the ovary could possible be cancerous and did not explain things completely. She did not seem to acknowledge the anxiety, fear and stress one would have hearing news of possible cancer. She lacked patience and sensitivity.
At one of my office visits with her I was asking questions about the surgery and at one point she said me «you seem like a person that has to be in control and you have to trust me». I was surprised she made a negative personal character remark in response to my asking questions but I let it go. (We all have the right to ask questions about any surgery we will undergo and our medical status).
She could not perform the surgery till the end of January in 2013 due to her upcoming vacation but said I could ask one of the other obgyn’s to do the surgery. So the next day I called the office to schedule surgery with another obgyn in hopes to get the surgery over with asap. The office scheduled surgery for Jan 18 and also schedule a preop visit for Jan 14 that I had to go in for to talk about next week’s surgery. But when I got there the staff was confused and did not have a record of any surgery date. So I went in for nothing and they suggested that I wait for her to return from vacation.
When she was back from vacation she returned my call, and I explained the run around that her office scheduled me for surgery with another obgyn per her suggestion, but when I went in on the 14^th they had no record that the surgery was scheduled for the 18^th. So she rescheduled the surgery date again for February 4^th.
I went back to her office and took a breath test to determine if I had any cancer gean carrying breast or ovarian cancer. She called me back and said we had to reschedule the Feb 4 surgery because the breath test did not come back. I got upset since this 2^nd reschedule (which affected other people’s schedule who had to take time off to care for my 1yr old son since I would be unable to pick him up for two weeks) and told her I was stressed about all the rescheduling and surgery. She got defensive and was unapologetic towards me when she should have been kind and gentle to me as her patient and apologize for all the rescheduling. She should have shown some care instead of behaving abrasive.
I then meet with the Oncologist since he now had to be involved in the surgery. He scheduled the surgery for Feb 20^th and his office called her office to coordinate schedules to perform surgery. (Because an oncologist needs an obgyn as an assistant and he always goes back to the referring obgyn)
But Poornima Kaul declined to assist him in the surgery and I then received a letter from her in the mail, quote «After careful consideration I have decided that I am unable to be your doctor. The style of patient care that you expect is different from my style as a physician. I feel that your needs would be better served at another medical practice». So basically I don’t want you as a patient go somewhere else because you ask to many questions and got mad and I don’t want to deal with you. Wow two weeks prior to surgery. What doctor does this? Now the oncologist had to scramble to find another obgyn to assist him not to mention an obgyn whom I’ve never met.
What does she mean by «the style of patient care that you expect is differnt from my style»? Patient care being kindness? That’s what I expected. And I expected her to answer my questions. Is that to much to ask for? Her office is unorganized and although she says «trust me» she obviously can’t be trusted. She is capable of turning her back on a patient in the middle of care during one of the most important times of a person’s life. Possible cancer.