Prenatal Evaluation & Genetic Counseling.

Many problems that can put a pregnancy at increased risk will develop during the pregnancy, such as incompetent cervix, placenta previa, premature rupture of membranes and others. But pregnancies are also put at risk by many conditions or disorders that existed — and were known or suspected — prior to conception.

Manage the risks...
prior to the pregnancy.

At Center for Maternal Fetal Medicine, we encourage women with known or suspected health problems or a family history of genetic diseases to get evaluation and counseling before becoming pregnant. As obstetricians who subspecialize in high-risk pregnancies, we know that many of the problems we see can be mitigated or avoided with prepregnancy testing, counseling and appropriate therapies.

Early detection, information
& care can make a difference.

Generally speaking, the most positive impact on a high-risk pregnancy is made when the risk — and, in many cases, its causal condition — is detected and addressed early in the pregnancy. Actually, for some problems, the best time for medical intervention is in the first five or six weeks, which is earlier than the typical first obstetric appointment. But prior to the pregnancy is when care should begin for any woman who knows or suspects she has:

• Thyroid disease
• Diabetes
• Hypertension
• Autoimmune & infectious diseases
• Recurrent pregnancy loss
• Family history of genetic disorders
• Thrombophilias/blood clotting disorders

previous pregnancy loss.

Women who’ve had previous miscarriages or stillbirths should also seek prenatal counseling and evaluation. They need information about their risks and changes they can make to ensure a healthy pregnancy. They also deserve our atypically thorough testing that looks for rare disorders that may be at the root of their problems.