Help for High-Risk Pregnancy

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A woman with a high-risk pregnancy has a greater chance of complications during labor, either because of pre-existing risk factors or unexpected conditions that can occur without warning during their nine-month term. Mothers with pre-existing medical conditions (diabetes, hypertension, heart disease) or a history of premature birth or pregnancy loss may need closer monitoring during pregnancy. Pregnancy-related problems, such as expecting multiple babies, toxemia (high blood pressure during pregnancy), and abnormal fetal growth or amniotic fluid amounts can also indicate a greater need to see a specialist in maternal fetal medicine.

High-Risk Pregnancy Services at John Muir Perinatal Medical Group provide support services at John Muir Medical Center and round-the-clock assistance to high-risk patients. Women are referred by their primary obstetrician or infertility specialist, if they know about a history that puts them or their babies at risk. The specialists work with a woman's physician for a healthier pregnancy.

A New Prenatal Screening Test

New advances in technology have helped improve the timing and detection rate for pregnancies at risk for Down syndrome and the typically lethal condition trisomy 18. The newer screening test, known as first trimester screening with nuchal translucency can identify those pregnancies at risk for these genetic disorders as early as 11 weeks (nine weeks after conception), Previous blood test screening used to be performed between 16-20 weeks.

Before and throughout her pregnancy, a high-risk patient can be referred to John Muir Perinatal Medical Group for:

preconception counseling
ultrasound services
first- and second-trimester screenings for genetic defects
in-patient and outpatient consulting for medical diseases during pregnancy

For those who deliver at the John Muir Birth Center, nurses specifically trained in high-risk prenatal care assist the perinatologists in the care of complicated pregnancies. Neonatal and pediatric specialists also are available to provide care for the newborns after delivery.

"We tell expectant mothers to eat a good diet and take pre-natal vitamins but unfortunately, women with certain high-risk factors can not do much else to alter their condition significantly. What we can do to help is keep an eye on mother and fetus, and monitor both closely." says Rosa Won, M.D., a perinatologist (high risk obstetrician) with John Muir Perinatal Medical Group.

"When a woman's doctor contacts us, we start with a consultation to assess her pregnancy risks, then we will either co-manage her pregnancy with her physician or assume her care if the situation dictates the need for a higher level of care." says Jeff Traynor, M.D., perinatologist and medical director of the Maternal Fetal Medicine Division.

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