Celebrating Dr. Susan Crowe, A Champion of Patient-Centered Care
October 23, 2025
When Susan Crowe, MD, walks into a room, patients light up. Colleagues say it is her deep sense of care — for mothers, babies, trainees, and peers alike — that has defined her career at Stanford Obstetric and Gynecology. This September, after 27 years at Stanford, the longtime Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology retired, leaving behind a legacy that reshaped how the department cares for patients and supports families.
“She was patient-centered from day one,” recalled Farsam Fraz, MD, a recent resident who first met Crowe in the obstetrics clinic. “Everything about her teaching and her interactions with us revolved around the patient and how we were all there for them. She was also a fierce resident advocate, always thinking about wellness and efficiency.”
Champion of Lactation and Postpartum Care
Crowe became known as the department’s lactation expert — a title that only begins to capture the breadth of her impact. Long before conversations about work-life balance gained traction in academic medicine, she worked through the wellness committee to ensure that new parents among Stanford faculty had the resources they needed to continue nursing when they returned from leave.
Her impact expanded beyond the department: Through Stanford WellMD and WellPhD, Crowe chaired the Lactation Council, leading institutional efforts to improve lactation spaces, resources, and policies for faculty, staff, and trainees.
“She is one of the most dedicated physicians I’ve seen to mother-baby couplet care,” said Kay Daniels, MD, Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. “She went out of her way to make sure every resident coming back from maternity leave had access to a breast pump. Not many people would do that. And she led the way for Stanford to achieve Baby-Friendly designation — it was an uphill battle, but she persevered and blazed the path.”
Crowe’s national reputation as an expert in breastfeeding grew from her ability to bridge medicine and lived experience. She supported patients with complex lactation needs, advocated for skin-to-skin contact at the time of Caesarean section, and shared her expertise abroad, giving lectures on lactation around the world.
Mentor and Role Model
Alongside her clinical expertise, Crowe became a mentor to generations of residents. Through her leadership at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), she guided trainees like Fraz into national leadership roles.
“[Crowe] really took care of all of the Stanford residents and trainees at conferences,” Fraz said. “She’d host gatherings so we could connect and network. She made a huge national stage feel like a supportive community.”
She taught us to meet patients where they are, to listen deeply, and to build relationships that make patients more open to evidence-based care.
Her teaching is both practical and profound. “She reminded us that not everything needs to be fast-paced,” Fraz added. “She taught us to meet patients where they are, to listen deeply, and to build relationships that make patients more open to evidence-based care.”
That approach left a lasting impact on patients. Fraz remembered one labor in particular: a woman who had grown exhausted and lost confidence after hours of pushing. “When she saw Dr. Crowe walk in, she just started crying tears of joy,” Fraz said. “With Dr. Crowe by her side, she felt empowered to keep going — and she had a vaginal birth. Not all physicians stay at the bedside through moments like that, but Dr. Crowe made patients feel she was truly there for them.”
Collaboration and Innovation
Crowe’s collaborative spirit extended well beyond labor and delivery. With Clinical Associate Professor Laura Brodzinsky and colleagues across departments, she co-led a pilot study testing whether surgical caps labeled with providers’ names and roles could improve communication in the operating room. The findings, published in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety in 2021, showed that named caps reduced miscommunication and were embraced by both providers and patients.
“She was warm, approachable, and collaborative,” Brodzinsky said. “She was a steady presence—someone who always made you feel supported.”
For Daniels, Crowe’s lasting legacy is cultural as much as clinical. “She moved us from a very medical model of birth to a more holistic approach that honored bonding between mother and baby,” Daniels said. “That was a major mindset change, and she did it.”
Fraz echoed that sentiment from the perspective of a new physician. “She taught us that sometimes less is more in medicine — that restraint, when appropriate, can be just as powerful as intervention.”
Defining Legacy
As she retires, colleagues agree that Crowe’s standards will continue to shape the department. “She set a high bar for patient advocacy,” Daniels reflected.
After nearly three decades, Crowe’s influence is felt in the way Stanford Medicine supports new parents, nurtures trainees, and strives for patient-centered excellence.