Maternal-Fetal Medicine

You will be trained to manage high-risk obstetrical patients by learning how to evaluate common genetic, terato­logic and metabolic problems that complicate pregnan­cy.

You will serve as the primary physician for inpatients, under direct supervision of faculty in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine. Additionally, you will act as a consultant to other hospital services for a wide range of complicated pregnancy issues.

You also will be responsible for attending daily sign‑in and sign‑out rounds with the other residents and for collaboraton in managing high‑risk patients on the labor floor.

Through your work in the Maternal Fetal Medicine Center, you will receive broad exposure to prenatal and postnatal care and will observe firsthand the many types of lethal and non-lethal fetal anomalies. You will learn their genetic and physiological bases and learn how to manage such anomalies.

You will also conduct consultations for family history of congenital or genetic mutations and care for patients whose medical comorbidities require a more complex management plan in pregnancy. You will be responsible for signing out the antepartum service to the covering team at night.

Procedures Learned

You will learn how to perform:

  • ultrasounds
  • amniocentesis
  • chorionic villus sampling
  • fetal shunt placement
  • intrauterine transfusions

Conditions Seen

  • diabetes (pre-gestational and gestational)
  • hypertensive complications
  • Marfan syndrome
  • lupus
  • thyroid disease
  • hepatitis
  • cytomegalovirus
  • parvovirus
  • liver disease
  • cerebrovascular accident
  • myocardial infarction
  • preterm labor
  • cervical insufficiency
  • uterine abnormalities
  • higher-order multiple gestations
  • preterm premature rupture of membranes
  • abruption or bleeding in pregnancy

Caseload

  • 8 to 10 patients per day

Clinical Site

Year Taken

Patient Population

  • Inpatient service consists predominantly of patients in the second- and third-trimesters who require close inpatient maternal or fetal monitoring but also may include women in the first trimester.  This extends to pregnant women who require complex medical care and care in the ICU.
  • Outpatient clinic pateints consist predominantly of women who have been referred frmo community physicians for either transferred care or conultant services. Their initial visit may occur preconception or during all trimesters.