Prenatal medicine involves caring for an unborn baby during pregnancy, including fetal tests, ultrasounds, and treating birth defects and infections. Perinatologists specialize in high-risk pregnancies, while OB/GYNs provide care for most healthy pregnancies. Additional tests may be done if abnormalities are detected, but no screening can guarantee detection of all abnormalities.
Prenatal medicine is the practice of caring for an unborn baby during pregnancy. Medical professionals involved in this area usually perform fetal tests to screen for health problems, preside over ultrasounds, and attempt to treat birth defects, ailments, and infections. Most doctors who practice prenatal medicine are called perinatologists, or maternal-fetal specialists, and are usually charged with monitoring and providing care for high-risk pregnancies in which medical problems have been found. On the other hand, an OB/GYN or midwife often checks and treats the unborn baby as well, during both normal and high-risk pregnancies.
The typical obstetrician/gynecologist, or OB/GYN, provides prenatal care for both mother and baby, with appointments usually occurring at least once a month throughout the pregnancy. Monitoring the fetus usually involves taking measurements of the uterus to make sure the baby is growing, using a Doppler to determine the fetal heart rate, and the occasional ultrasound to check for proper development. Typical prenatal medicine may also require that the mother be checked for conditions such as preeclampsia and placenta previa, which can lead to a premature birth, often leading to an unhealthy baby. Most healthy pregnancies are supervised by a gynecologist, although complicated pregnancies can be referred elsewhere.
Perinatologists are usually skilled in treating high-risk pregnancies, where there are complications with the fetus that require more advanced knowledge of prenatal medicine. Typically, this type of doctor does extra ultrasounds to continuously monitor the developing fetus, and 3D ultrasounds in particular are often used to see specific details. Prenatal medicine performed by this type of doctor also often includes first trimester screening, which checks for chromosomal disorders such as trisomy 21. This can allow for early treatment when possible or prepare parents for birth defects or fetal death while in in the uterus.
Other prenatal medicine factors may include additional types of tests, such as amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling during the first or second trimester. These are usually done only after first trimester screening has revealed a possible abnormality, as there is a very small risk of miscarriage from these tests. It should be known, however, that no amount of screening, ultrasound, or constant fetal monitoring can guarantee that it will detect all abnormalities in the fetus. Furthermore, while the use of prenatal medicine in high-risk pregnancies is important for detecting and treating medical problems early, its ability to provide parents with peace of mind is often viewed as an equally important benefit.
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