Barry S. Schifrin, MD
Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialist
United States of America
Expert in Electronic Fetal Monitoring and Obstetrical Malpractice
Barry S. Schifrin, MD, is an internationally recognized obstetrician and maternal-fetal medicine specialist from the United States, widely known for his work on electronic fetal monitoring, fetal heart rate interpretation, and medico-legal issues in obstetrics. He has held academic appointments in Obstetrics and Gynecology at major medical schools, including Harvard Medical School, the University of Southern California, and Loma Linda University, and has written extensively on the clinical and legal implications of fetal monitoring. His work is especially relevant to Malpractice 2026 because electronic fetal monitoring remains one of the most important and disputed areas in obstetrical malpractice, patient safety, and clinical decision-making.
Biography
Barry S. Schifrin, MD, is a maternal-fetal medicine specialist and obstetrician-gynecologist from the United States. He is widely recognized for his long-standing work on electronic fetal monitoring, fetal heart rate interpretation, obstetrical decision-making, and the medico-legal dimensions of perinatal care.
Dr. Schifrin has held professorial appointments in Obstetrics and Gynecology at several major medical institutions, including Harvard Medical School, the University of Southern California, and Loma Linda University Schools of Medicine. He also served as Director of the residency program in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Glendale Adventist Medical Center. Public professional profiles describe him as nationally known for his research in electronic fetal monitoring and as board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Maternal-Fetal Medicine.
His career has been closely associated with the development, interpretation, and critical evaluation of electronic fetal monitoring. As a young physician, he worked with teams involved in the early development of fetal monitoring technology and later became an important voice in discussions about its clinical limitations, interpretation challenges, and medico-legal consequences. His publications and professional commentary have addressed the relationship between fetal heart rate patterns, fetal acidemia, hypoxic-ischemic injury, clinical response, defensive medicine, and obstetrical malpractice.
Dr. Schifrin has authored and contributed to scientific publications on fetal heart rate monitoring, electronic fetal monitoring, and the classification and interpretation of fetal heart rate patterns. His 2020 work, “Electronic Fetal Monitoring—Prevention or Rescue?”, specifically discusses electronic fetal monitoring in relation to fetal acidemia, obstetrical malpractice, defensive medicine, and malpractice awards. He has also written on the continuing uncertainty and controversy surrounding fetal heart rate monitoring more than half a century after its introduction into clinical practice.
His expertise is highly relevant to Malpractice 2026, where obstetrics and gynecology, clinical standards, legal responsibility, forensic interpretation, and patient safety intersect. Electronic fetal monitoring is one of the central areas in which clinical judgment, documentation, expert testimony, and malpractice litigation meet. Dr. Schifrin’s experience offers an important perspective on how fetal monitoring should be understood, interpreted, and evaluated in both clinical and medico-legal contexts.