A maternal fetal medicine specialist is a doctor who specializes in matters of high risk pregnancy. This is a more detailed subject that deals with various birth defects and disorders that the child might have during the process of the pregnancy. These disorders can also affect the health of the mother at times and vice versa. The specialist for fetal medicine specifically looks into the cases of women who have a brief medical history of some chronic condition that may affect the child’s health. Thus many a times a OB/GYN refer their patients to a fetal medicine specialist who particularly treats the various risk factors associated with the pregnancy.

How are they helpful during pregnancy?

Women dealing with complicated pregnancies or other factors that may cause an adverse effect on the health of the child are required to consult a specialist for fetal medicine. These specialists do brief study on the medical background of the mother to see if she has a history of chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes, high blood pressure, seizure disorders, autoimmune disease or even any kind of infections. Often these kinds of diseases start affecting the health of the child that grows inside the body of the mother. Apart from this, in normal cases too, an expectant mother might come across some kind of disease after getting pregnant. The specialist for fetal medicine, therefore, looks into cases like these where the mother needs extra medical care and attention to keep up with the pregnancy without causing harm to the child.

These are the following procedures that are performed by the fetal medicine specialist in order to gain an insight on the cases of pregnancy:

Conduct tests and procedures to diagnose and monitor the overall physical growth of the fetus.

Diagnoses health conditions like various genetic disorders and deformities through procedures like amniocentesis, umbilical cord sampling etc.

Also helps you by regularly keeping a check on your previous medical conditions like diabetes and hypertension.

Takes care of abnormal occurrences that might be an indication to some serious problem that your child or you might be facing.

Therefore consulting your OB/GYN might always not suffice in case you have a high risk pregnancy. The specialist for fetal medicine adds on to the various other requirements that the mother might have. It is always a safer option to have an extra mind in your team of doctors who will guide you throughout your special period of life.