High-Risk Pregnancies Often Require Specialty Care, Tests and Treatments

Maternal-fetal medicine specialists, also known as MFM specialists, perinatologists and high-risk pregnancy physicians, are highly trained obstetrician/gynecologists with advanced expertise in obstetric, medical and surgical complications of pregnancy and their effects on the mother and fetus. A pregnancy is considered high-risk if a condition puts the mother or the developing fetus, or both, at an increased risk for complications during or after pregnancy and birth.

MFM specialists care for pregnant women who have conditions including diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. They also care for fetuses with medical conditions or anomalies and serve as consultants to general obstetricians, family practitioners, nurse practitioners and midwives. MFM specialists often coordinate the care of the high-risk pregnant woman working hand-in-hand with the woman's primary caregiver to develop a plan of care tailored to her needs and those of her unborn child.

Some women require a single consultation before or during pregnancy to help them prepare and to provide guidance to their obstetrician, family practitioner or nurse-midwife. Others may need ongoing MFM specialist care, such as the monitoring of their condition through regular prenatal visits and performing fetal assessments with ultrasound or more invasive procedures. Occasionally, the MFM specialist needs to take total responsibility for obstetric care.

To schedule an appointment with one of our Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialists, please call HealthAdvisor at 1.800.3ADVOCATE (1.800.329.6228).