What is Fetal medicine?

Fetal Medicine is a relatively new and advanced branch of Medicine that mainly focuses on the health and growth of the developing baby inside the womb. With the advances in research and technology in medical imaging, Fetal medicine has emerged as one of the rapidly evolving fields of medicine in diagnosing and treating problems with the unborn fetus. It offers screening, diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of various health conditions concerning the pregnant woman and the unborn baby.

Assessment of fetal health begins early in the pregnancy and continues thorough out till delivery. Inputs from Fetal medicine goes a long way in optimizing the outcomes for the mother and the fetus. Fetal medicine enables identification of at- risk women for various conditions like pre-eclampsia and fetal chromosomal abnormalities, identification of structural problems, identification of genetic problems through invasive testing in inherited genetic conditions.

When any fetal health concern is identified, Fetal medicine specialists work in collobaration with the obstetrician and neonatologists in planning further care for the pregnant woman to obtain the best possible outcome.