Perinatology, also known as maternal–fetal medicine, is a branch of medicine that focuses on the care of both the mother and fetus during pregnancy, childbirth, and the immediate postpartum period.
For this reason, it plays a crucial role in monitoring high-risk pregnancies or possible complications that may arise affecting the mother and baby.
What is perinatology
The goal of perinatology or maternal-fetal medicine is to ensure the healthiest possible pregnancy while identifying potential risks and indicating ways to address them to avoid serious complications.
For this, the maternal-fetal physician needs knowledge of obstetrics, neonatology, and pediatrics, which allows providing comprehensive and specialized care.
Although perinatology and maternal-fetal medicine can be considered the same, there are some differences, as while a maternal-fetal physician focuses on the health of the mother and fetus during pregnancy, the perinatologist has a broader focus that includes the immediate postpartum period.
What is done in perinatology
During a perinatology consultation, the health of both the mother and fetus is evaluated; for this, depending on the particular circumstances of each pregnancy and the patient’s medical history, different procedures may be performed:
- Advanced obstetric ultrasound: this baby ultrasound is a crucial imaging tool to monitor fetal growth and development, with the help of the fetal calculator; it allows knowing the baby’s size, the amount of amniotic fluid, fetal position, and detecting congenital malformations, if any.
- Amniocentesis: a small amount of amniotic fluid is extracted for analysis, helping to identify genetic abnormalities or infections.
- Chorionic villus sampling: a procedure similar to amniocentesis performed to obtain a placental tissue sample that helps detect chromosomal abnormalities.
- Fetal monitoring: during high-risk pregnancies, continuous monitoring of fetal well-being is important; this can be complemented with cardiotocography to measure fetal heart rate or oxygenation levels.
Beyond this, for women with preexisting medical conditions such as hypertension or autoimmune disorders, careful management during pregnancy is necessary; additionally, if needed, the perinatologist offers genetic counseling to couples at risk of transmitting hereditary disorders.
Perinatology hospital
To provide comprehensive and rapid care, a perinatology hospital has highly trained equipment and personnel to attend to risk cases for the mother and fetus.
Additionally, this place usually has neonatal intensive care units where newborns requiring specialized medical attention can receive advanced treatments.
In a perinatology hospital, emergency deliveries or surgical procedures like cesarean sections can also be performed if the situation becomes risky for either party.
Maternal-fetal medicine specialist near me
At the Women’s Center of Centro Médico ABC, we have a team of specialists in maternal-fetal medicine and perinatology, highly trained and dedicated to offering comprehensive and personalized care for all your pregnancy needs.
Our perinatologists in CDMX are committed to your well-being and use the latest technology and most advanced treatments to manage conditions such as high-risk pregnancies, neonatal complications at birth, preeclampsia, and more.
