Fetal Medicine

Pre-Conceptional Consultation

The first step to a safe pregnancy is proper planning that starts even before conception. Pre-conceptional consultation involves discussion and a detailed diagnosis of your current health status, obstetric history, medicines and risks that may affect your fertility. The doctor guides you through all the necessary changes you need to adopt to have a safe and healthy pregnancy.

Prenatal Screening

During pregnancy, prenatal screening is a vital process that helps in the timely detection of any future risk or underlying health issues. 

Types of screening include: 

• Combined Screening Test
• Enhanced FTS
• Quadruple Test
• Non-Invasive Prenatal Test (NIPT)
• Genetic Sonogram
• High-Risk Pregnancy Assessment and Monitoring

It helps in the timely detection of:

• Fetal growth restriction
• Maternal Diabetes
• Mother with pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure)
• Mother with Connective Tissue Disorders (like SLE, Rheumatoid arthritis) 

Ultrasounds

The ultrasound scans help the doctors in keeping a check on the baby’s health and development. Different scans are done at different stages of the pregnancy, that includes:

• Fetal Viability Scan: Checks the growth of the baby, especially in mothers with pre-eclampsia, diabetes, growth restriction or some other pregnancy-related complications.
• First-Trimester Scan: Calculates the gestational age and the baby’s due date. It can also detect the underlying soft markers of Down Syndrome. 
• Anomaly Scan Or Level II Scan: Gives a detailed picture of the baby’s organs and body parts. It can also detect structural abnormalities and soft markers of chromosomal aneuploidy
• Fetal Wellbeing Scan: Required in mothers with pre-eclampsia, diabetes, growth restriction or other pregnancy-related complications.
• Obstetric Dopplers: Monitors high-risk pregnancies and the appropriate time of delivery. 
• Multiple Pregnancy Scan: Offered to women with multiple pregnancies at around 11 to 14 weeks to find the type of placenta and membranes of their twins.

Advanced Ultrasound Scans

• 3D/4D scans: Provides high-dimensional visuals of the baby’s face, lips and sometimes hands and legs and can be performed at any time after an early pregnancy scan.
• Fetal Echocardiography: Performed to rule out any structural, rhythmic or functional abnormalities in the heart of the baby. It is especially required in cases where the first child is affected with a heart problem or a raised NT is detected in the first trimester.

Fetal Interventions 

With Fetal intervention, the doctor can reach inside the uterus to treat the fetus suffering from a complication with advanced procedures like:

• Amniocentesis 
• Chorionic Villus Sampling 
• Fetal Blood Sampling
• Selective Fetal Reduction