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Maternal-fetal medicine is a specialty of obstetrics that focuses on high-risk pregnancies stemming from maternal medical problems or fetal issues. Physicians who practice maternal-fetal medicine complete a general OB/GYN residency, followed by a three-year fellowship.
Karen O'Brien, MD, a maternal-fetal medicine physician with Melrose-Wakefield Hospital (MWH) and Tufts-New England Medical Center (Tufts-NEMC), is a shining example of a strong partnership between the two facilities.
Dr. O'Brien regularly works at Tufts-NEMC, but through a partnership between the hospitals she comes to MWH to see patients, perform ultrasounds, oversee consultations between patients and genetic counselors and talk with patients' primary OB/GYN physicians. Together the physicians outline a plan of care for each patient.
Genetic counseling provides understanding and answers
One of the primary areas maternal-fetal medicine regularly deals with is advanced maternal age - women over the age of 35. After 35, there is an increased rate of abnormalities in a fetus' number of chromosomes. Recognizing this challenge is important as women are increasingly conceiving later in life.
Genetic counseling helps these women, as well as women with a family history of genetic conditions or those exposed to medications or radiation in the first trimester, understand what options are available.
Keeping families close to home
"With the well-equipped Level II Special Care Nursery at MWH and highly skilled and specialized physicians rotating frequently to the hospital," said Dr. O'Brien, "high-risk patients are able to deliver close to their homes and families, while still receiving the same specialized care available in Boston."
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