Diana M Cantu, M.D.

Dr Cantu was a godsend to my family!
I was brought in early to be induced with my son after being 2 weeks «past due» and my regular Dr was not available. Dr Cantu walked in instead, and I would not have changed a thing!
She provided myself and my husband with so much knowledge, coaching and emotional support throughout the delivery process.
All though the night, as busy as the department was with other women giving birth, she came in to check on my progress (on her own instead of just looking at chart) and give encouragement.
At the end of her long shift, 7am, she came in to say bye as she had worked a long 14 hours, and to do one last check before she left to brief the Dr that was coming in. I was at 10 cm and didn’t even know it!
Dr Cantu said she was committed to me and my family and not leaving, she was going to delivery my baby! She then and there let her husband know she was going to be late, and spent the next 2 hours delivering our son.
By far exceeded my needs and expectations and created a bond with my entire family and gave us a memorable experience.
3 days later we were still in the hospital due to my sons increased bilirubin levels. Dr Cantu saw that we were still checked in, and came in to care for my son, work as an advocate for us between the Peds unit and give me comfort as well as personally take care of the procedures on my son, and got me the best lactation nurse she knew.
She went above and beyond for my son and I. I will never forget her!

I was lucky enough to have Dr. Cantu deliver my son in 2012 at Palomar Medical Center. After laboring for many hours at home I checked into Palomar Medical Center and Dr. Cantu was the on shift doctor. I found her to be nice, informative and most importantly extremely skilled in obstetrics. Dr. Cantu immediately recognized a drop in my son’s vitals and tried in several ways to fix them (positioning, replacing fluid, etc). When these things didn’t work I was rushed to the OR where we found that my son was wrapped very tightly in the umbilical cord, she actually showed my husband and had to unroll my son to get him out before sending him to NICU. I tried to use Dr. Cantu for the birth of my daughter last year and was sad to see that she no longer keeps office hours. I think the difference of review may come down to the kind of birth you are looking for. I had no expectations and no plans, my only goal was for everyone to be safe. Dr. Cantu definitely made that happen and I couldn’t be happier, surprise c-​section and all.

My experience with Dr. Cantu was, thankfully, as an observer of her care only and not as a patient. But I left the experience heartbroken that the person, who helped bring my clients’ baby into the world, cared so little about evidence based care or respect for patients.
Within a moment of introducing herself, she was yelling in the father’s face, insulting his intelligence and questioning what right he had to inquire about her behavior. This is the day they welcome their baby and this doctor accused them if not caring about their baby’s well being because he wanted to understand what she was recommending. The next physician they met offered a similar approach to their delivery, but was kind, listened, answered questions and treated them like they were HUMANS.
Like the previous post, she was physically aggressive with procedures and told mom she was huge, having huge (6 lb) baby, called her «filthy» and ignored or belittled every request that was made.
My role is to support the parents, I have no feelings about whether or not a physician acknowledges me or treats me one way or another. I want my families to have positive experiences. I was pained for them. That this woman was allowed to participate in the birth of their child, even after they asked her to leave, it’s actual tragic. A dark cloud over a beautiful day.
She had been given a gift, to work with families on what is supposed to be the best day of their lives. She does not treat it that way. She’s the most disrespectful, abusive, manipulative care provider I’ve worked with or heard of in the childbirth industry.

If there were a no star option, I would’ve pick that. This OB is down right EVIL. If you’re unlucky enough to have her in the labor and delivery room for your birth, this is what you’ll experience:
1. Extremely aggressive vaginal exams and ignores the mom when she asks to stop 2. Tells the mom she can’t handle the pain 3. Gets the Dad upset by refusing to listen to him and belittling him if he so much as asks her a question 4. Will not interact AT all with a doula, refuses to speak to a doula at all, sometimes tells the doula to leave the room or go to a corner, or physically tries to distance the doula from the mom 5. Makes dishonest and coercive claims when she feels the moms belly and says «there’s no way this baby is going to fit» and/​or talks about how narrow or small the mom’s pelvis is. 6. Argues against parent’s birth plan wishes unnecessarily and Makes parents feel stupid by saying «well we’re interested in the baby’s safety. I don’t know what your motive is». 7. Refuses to be fired or leave the room if she’s asked to leave.
This is not just my experience, this is the experience I share with at least 4 of my doula peers.

Our interaction with Dr Cantu was limited to her rotation at the Palomar Downtown Medical Campus for my wife’s delivery last year (2014). Until Dr Cantu arrived every staff member, nurse, and doctor that we interacted with was phenomenal. Dr Cantu on the other hand was rude, abrasive, disrespectful, and refused to listen to anyone in the room, including my wife and myself. When our Doula stepped out of the room and talked to the nurses about the best way to talk to and work with Dr Cantu, they all essentially said «good luck».
Her surgical skills are excellent, my wife’s Cesarean was performed perfectly. However, her bedside manner and her treatment of her patients, their spouses, and their support team is atrocious. I don’t care if she has had an issue with Doula’s, or whatever she may have an issue with, the way she treated my wife and myself was completely and utterly uncalled for.
We have tried filing a complaint with Kaiser about the situation but they have failed to respond. In the interim we have continued to hear about more and more women who have been just bulldozed and disrespected by Dr Cantu. I just have to warn people about her and that if she starts ripping things apart when she steps in, just tell her «We want a new doctor, now»

I am so disturbed by the previous reviewers’ scathing and somewhat incoherent review of Dr. Cantu. In my opinion — and I have literally spent hours with Dr. Cantu at Kaiser — she is the BEST of the BEST.
Dr. Cantu now works at Zion Hospital for Kaiser, where she is the emergency on call doctor for high risk pregnant mothers. This is what she does — she saves lives, day in and day out. She fully understands the risks and the inherent fragility of pregnancy and she does everything in her power to protect you and your baby. I have witnessed the extent of her commitment and care first hand — she is a remarkable doctor.
I worked very hard to get referred to Dr. Cantu when I was pregnant in 2011 with my daughter. During that time, she was an OB GYN at Kaiser Vandever. I was high risk, delivering at age 40. (Before I was referred to Dr. Cantu, I had lost 3 previous pregnancies and was rather beaten up and devastated by the experiences). Dr. Cantu was beyond attentive and involved in my pregnancy, as well as deeply hopeful for us. She moved mountains for me, referred me to see specialists, got me into appointments and ultrasounds anytime I needed without delay, and spent an amazing amount of time with me and my husband, seeing my (4^th) pregnancy through to a healthy baby girl. Without Dr. Cantu, I’m not sure I would have my one and only daughter. She is an inspiration to the profession and anyone who is fortunate enough to be treated by Dr. Cantu has won the lottery, in my book.

If I could I would give her zero star and would rather say she is not fit to be in this profession…
I was pregnant with my son in 2010 and due to some problem I couldn’t attend an appointment and I was ving gestational diabetes… So I was maintaining a chart… This dr kept yelling at me on top of her voice yelling @ me and said anything can happen to my baby in the belly as I dint attend da appt and the chart I showed her she said I was faking it up my numbers can’t come down… Soon I delivered my baby next week n she dint even ve the courtesy to come visit us nor did she send any msg… Pls donot see this dr… She would make you feel terrible…