AAMC Reporter: March 2008

Ob/Gyn a Hit With Major Leaguers

Eric J. Haufrect, M.D., is a lifelong fan of Major League Baseball's Houston Astros. Now the vice chair of the obstetrics and gynecology department at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, Haufrect goes way back with the team—he gave tours of their stadium in high school, attended the first opening day at the famed Astrodome, and still follows the team closely in their new ballpark. But in recent years, some Astros players have had a chance to watch him at work as well—when he delivered their babies.

He has a collection of autographed baseballs in his office to prove it. Only they aren't signed by the athletes themselves, but rather by the heroes of the delivery room: the players' wives.

"One time, when I had delivered a [player's wife's] baby, I saw someone asking for her husband's signature," he said. "But I thought she was the star of the show that day."

Haufrect now has more than 30 baseballs autographed by players' wives he has treated. Among his signers include Nicole Oswalt and Kim Williams, wives of pitchers Roy Oswalt and Woody Williams, respectively. The opportunity to deliver Astro babies, he said, fell onto his plate when two pitchers' wives started coming to him. The word spread.

"Obstetrics is like a chain letter. Within five to 10 years, I was seeing most of the team's wives," he said. His attention to pitchers' game days may have won over patients.

"I like to deliver the baby so the pitcher has some time with his family before pitching again," Haufrect said.

"There are stringent guidelines for inducing labor, so I have those in one hand and the pitching rotation in the other. We try to have the baby delivered at the most ideal time in both regards."

—By Elissa Fuchs

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