You may be referred to the fetal medicine unit for a number of different reasons. Most first appointments will be in the general fetal medicine clinic.
If your baby is known to have an abnormality in the brain or spinal cord you may be referred to this clinic.
The clinic is staffed by a Fetal Medicine consultant, Dr Thomas Everett and Dr Sharon English and Dr Amelia Shaw, Consultants in Neonatology. They will review specialist imaging (MRI scans), carry out ultrasound assessments of the baby and talk with you about the outlook for your baby and any specialist care that might be needed after birth.
The Fetal Surgical Clinic is run by a team of Fetal Medicine, Neonatal and Surgical Consultants along with specialist nurses and midwives. You will be seen in this clinic if we think your baby might have a problem which may require an operation soon after birth.
The aim of the clinic is to provide information about the care that your baby is likely to need after they have been born and what to expect both in the short term, during their stay on the neonatal unit, and in the longer term during childhood and beyond.
The fetal cardiology unit is located next to the fetal medicine unit. There are daily clinics in fetal cardiology for babies with suspected heart abnormalities or if you have had a baby in the past with a heart abnormality.
These clinics are run by Consultant Paediatric Cardiologists, Consultant Echocardiographers and Cardiac Nurse specialists, with each having a vital role to play in the diagnosis of your baby’s condition and providing information and support during pregnancy and afterwards.
Other specialist clinics run by our Fetal Medicine consultants:
We offer specialist care if you have a history of severe fetal growth problems, or stillbirth due to placental function problems, in a previous pregnancy.
We also provide monitoring if your pregnancy is complicated by growth problems.
The IRIS clinic is run by Dr Breeze who is our Fetal Medicine consultant with a special interest in fetal growth and fetal and placental blood flow measurements (Dopplers).
We are involved in research projects aiming to better understand the causes of fetal growth restriction, stillbirth, and the optimal monitoring and timing of birth for babies who are not growing well during the pregnancy.
If there is a high chance that your pregnancy may be affected by an abnormally adherent placenta (placenta accreta) or where vasa praevia is suspected you will be referred to this clinic. The clinic is run by Dr Sparey.
Please come to your appointment with a full bladder so that the best views can be obtained. If you have been referred to this clinic you will also need to have a scan through the vagina so that the placenta and fetal blood vessels can be examined properly. Most patients will only need one appointment at this clinic and will then return to their normal antenatal clinics for further follow up.
You may be offered a joint appointment where a member of the clinical genetics team will attend. Those seen will typically either have a history of a genetic problem in the family or the suspicion of a genetic problem in the current pregnancy.