More than 8,000 babies have come into the world in the care of Dr. Sharon Breit, a Wichita, Kansas, obstetrician-gynecologist whose career now spans 34 years. Sharon Breit has spent those years looking after women through each season of life, and she's recognized for combining deep clinical knowledge with genuine compassion. She holds the designation of Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (FACOG).

Dr. Breit's practice covers the full scope of her specialty: obstetrics, the care of high-risk pregnancies, gynecology, and minimally invasive gynecologic surgery. Over more than three decades devoted to comprehensive care for women, she has walked thousands of families through pregnancy and birth, giving particularly close attention to those whose pregnancies carried higher risk. Each of those deliveries placed her at the center of a moment her patients will hold onto.

In the operating room, she's a skilled and accomplished gynecologic surgeon who performs laparoscopic and hysteroscopic procedures. Her training extends to robotic surgery, with robotic hysterectomy among the procedures she's prepared to perform. No two patients get an identical plan from her. She shapes treatment around the individual and makes sure each woman understands the choices in front of her so she can make an informed decision with confidence.

Two areas hold particular interest for her. One is recognizing which women carry a higher hereditary risk of breast and ovarian cancer. The other is guiding patients through perimenopause and menopause. Her menopause care is personal by design, built around each woman's symptoms, health history, and goals, and it includes hormone replacement therapy in cases where it's the right fit.

Today, Sharon Breit practices as a locum tenens physician, offering her experience to hospitals and practices in need of a capable OB-GYN.

Being a caring, compassionate physician sits at the top of the list when Dr. Breit reflects on what she's proudest of. She listens closely, explains things clearly, and respects what each patient needs. The bonds she forms with her patients matter deeply to her, and she aims to offer thoughtful care across the whole arc of a woman's life, beginning with pregnancy and childbirth and continuing into the menopause years.

Long before she became a physician, Dr. Breit was a nurse. She graduated from Wichita State University with a bachelor's degree in nursing and, drawn by her love of obstetrics, took a position in labor and delivery at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita. She went on to work in labor and delivery at Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Lawrence, Kansas, while finishing her premedical coursework at the University of Kansas. Even after starting medical school, she stayed on as a part-time nurse.

That time at the bedside taught her just how hard labor and delivery nursing is. She understands what a long shift beside a woman in labor demands, and she knows a strong care team is essential to a safe delivery. The lessons still inform how she practices, and among her proudest accomplishments are the enduring connections she shares with labor and delivery nurses.

She received her medical degree in 1988 from the University of Kansas School of Medicine, then finished her Obstetrics and Gynecology residency at Washington University in St. Louis in 1992. Having trained as both a nurse and a physician, she sees the delivery room from two vantage points and carries that dual perspective into the care of every patient. Learning has remained a constant for her, and she keeps picking up new obstetric and gynecologic skills as the specialty advances.

Sharon Breit's philanthropy mirrors the values at the heart of her medical work: healthy mothers and babies, progress against women's cancers and care for those with the greatest need. Many of the causes she champions center on women and families.

At the national level, she supports the American Heart Association, March of Dimes, Every Mother Counts, the Foundation for Women's Cancer and the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition.

In Wichita, her support goes to Victory in the Valley, an organization offering cancer support that includes help for women facing breast and gynecologic cancers; The Tree House, which connects mothers and babies with essential supplies, education and referrals; and Guadalupe Clinic, which delivers health care to patients who are uninsured or underserved. She also gives to the Sweet Emergency Fund, which helps Kansans living with HIV/AIDS pay for their care, along with her church, Wichita Children's Home, Klothes Kloset and Goodwill Industries. For a number of years, she has donated wheelchairs, clinic items and medical supplies to a nonprofit medical loan closet in Wichita, putting that equipment in the hands of people who need it.

Away from medicine, Dr. Breit makes time for reading, gardening and travel. The curiosity that drives her to keep learning as a physician carries into those pursuits, too, whether that means a good book, time in the garden or a trip somewhere she hasn't been before.

Her journey began on the labor and delivery floor at Wesley Medical Center and has continued through 34 years as a physician. All along, Dr. Sharon Breit has held on to the purpose that first brought her to medicine: giving women thoughtful, compassionate care in every stage of life.