Maternal-fetal medicine

Maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) is the branch of obstetrics that focuses on the medical and surgical management of high-risk pregnancies. Management includes monitoring and treatment including comprehensive ultrasound, chorionic villus sampling, genetic amniocentesis, and fetal surgery or treatment. Obstetricians who practice maternal-fetal medicine are also known as perinatologists. This is a subspecialty to obstetrics and gynecology mainly used for patients with high-risk pregnancies.Obstetric medicine is a closely related specialty that emphasizes the care of medical problems in pregnancy.

Maternal-fetal medicine specialists are obstetrician-gynecologists who undergo an additional 3 years of specialized training in the assessment and management of high-risk pregnancies. As a result, they are able to take care of pregnant women who have special medical problems (e.g. heart or kidney disease, hypertension, diabetes, and thrombophilia), pregnant women who are at risk for pregnancy-related complications (e.g. preterm labor, pre-eclampsia, and twin or triplet pregnancies), and pregnant women with fetuses at risk. Fetuses may be at risk because of chromosomal or congenital abnormalities, maternal disease, infections, genetic diseases, and growth restriction.