NORTH CAROLINA

CHARLOTTE
Bridget Bongaard, internal medicine, endocrinology 
	North Charlotte Medical Specialists 
	Charlotte, North Carolina  
	She is sensitive to people's feelings, she does not make an
	issue of your weight, but makes it clear when particular health
	conditions are related to overweight. Her office has large blood
	pressure cuffs. She actively supports any patients' attempts at
	weight loss and exercise increase but does not nag or make an
	issue of weight. She is willing to explore options and suggest a
	specialist. She does insist her patients are weighed at every
	consultation regardless of their size. I do not know know what
	they would do if the patient refused--I doubt if they would make
	an issue of it. Her staff is well trained, professional, and
	matter of fact, and they make no comments or behave in any way
	to disparage patients who are over weight. -- Marilyn Miller 
	***Dissenting View***
	She misdiagnosed my condition 5 years ago, blaming EVERYTHING on
	my obesity, when in fact I had a pituitary tumor. It was not
	correctly diagnosed until two years later, when I literally
	tricked her into doing testing that she wouldn't have done based
	on her original diagnosis. She told me that losing weight would
	solve all my problems and my problems were caused because I was
	too fat and depressed over being too fat. --my1obsession

DURHAM
Alice Cooper, Nurse Practitioner, GYN department
        Duke University Medical Center  
        919-684-8111 Ask for GYN appointments
        Amazing non judgmental medical professional -- jayneali@aol.com

HICKORY
Kathryn Berkowitz, Certified Childbirth Assistant & Educator
	Hickory, North Carolina
	704-462-4498
	Self-referred. 
	Offering caring support for full figured pregnant women
	including birthing services, lactation counseling, custom
	designed childbirth education classes, doula and monitrice
	support, VBAC education and support, nutritional and exercise
	counseling unique to full figured mothers, information on
	out-of-hospital birthing options, waterbirth, and medical
	consumer issues affecting Rubenesque women. "I am a full figured
	woman and understand the issues that we face when seeking
	compassionate birth assistance."

GREENSBORO
Clinton Young, MD, Pulmonologist (also specializing in sleep disorders)
	LeBaeur Healthcare
	Greensboro, NC
	On our very first visit, he said with a little shrug, "Your size
	is a contributing factor, but losing the weight is no small
	thing.  If it were, you would have done it already."  And he's
	never mentioned my weight again.  What he has done is listen to
	my concerns and provide compassionate, respectful,
	individualized care.

MORGANTON
David Herington, MD, GP
	Morganton, NC
	I've never been weighed before a visit, never even been steered
	towards a scale. He never mentions weight as a cause of my
	complaint, even when it was plantar fasciitis. Also, Herington
	is fat himself. He also sees children, and is very gentle and
	respectful. -- contributed by an RN (who doesn't work with him)

RALEIGH
Catherine Dingman, MD, Gyn
	Raleigh, North Carolina
	Retired and closed her practice in 2014.

Stephen Rotholz, OB-GYN
        Centre, Obstetrics and Gynecology
        2709 Blue Ridge Road, Suite 300
        Raleigh, NC 27607
        I went to this doctor to talk about getting pregnant at approx 
        300lbs. He was open, honest, kind and basically told me to go
        ahead. He said if I was younger (I'm mid-30s), he might
        recommend I try to lose a few more pounds and that it might not
        be a bad idea now for my own comfort but I should be fine at
        this weight. He had up to date data on BBW and pregnancy as
        well. He was respectful and polite plus a really nice guy! I
        highly recommend him to any BBW in the Triangle looking for an
        OB. -- MH, Cary, NC