Treatments and Services Learning that you’re pregnant is a joyful moment in your life. Discovering that something is wrong with your baby is scary and worrisome. At Connecticut Children’s Fetal Care Center, our team of experts is committed to bring you and your family the comfort and confidence needed to get through your journey during and after pregnancy. We understand that every baby and every mother is unique. We develop customized care for you and your baby that may require one or more of the following services. Fetal Imaging Our Fetal Care Center provides the most advanced imaging technologies highly specialized in pediatrics. We offer state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment to provide you with information relevant to your comprehensive care plan. Depending on your needs, the following tests or imaging may be performed: Fetal Ultrasound Fetal echocardiogram Fetal MRI Fetal CT scan Diagnostic Fetoscopy Amniocentesis Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) Fetal blood sampling Microarray Analysis Genetic Counseling & Testing Our comprehensive Fetal Care Center offers genetic counseling and testing to ensure you know everything there is to know before the arrival of your baby. Our Genetic Counselor is a specially trained healthcare professional who will assist in obtaining with detailed family histories and offer guidance regarding specific tests, birth defects, genetic disorders, and other possible inherited conditions in conjunction with Medical Geneticists. If you’re scheduled to meet with our Genetic Counselor, consult with your family members and prepare to share your family history of any genetic conditions. Maternal-Fetal Medicine Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM), also known as perinatology, is a subspecialty of obstetrics. Obstetrics is the branch of medicine and surgery focused on childbirth and the care of pregnant women. MFM specialists receive additional years of formal training to manage the health concerns of mom and baby before, during, and after pregnancy. They are often seen as high-risk pregnancy experts who specialize in prenatal ultrasound and management of maternal complications of pregnancy and fetal anomalies. Our maternal-fetal medicine specialists are highly trained to perform various fetal care testing and procedures. They will help manage the care for you and your baby to ensure you stay as healthy as possible. Fetal Surgery Your baby may have a medical condition that requires surgery before or immediately after birth. Take comfort in knowing our fetal and pediatric surgeons are nationally and globally recognized for their experience and expertise. We offer the full range of fetal surgery for conditions that benefit from an utero intervention. Our surgeons use minimally invasive procedures whenever possible to reduce any risks for you and your baby. However, some conditions may require open fetal surgery in our new operating room equipped with the latest equipment and technologies to deliver optimal care. The following surgeries and procedures are available at our Fetal Care Center: Ultrasound Guided Fetal Intervention: Ultrasound guidance is an integral part of fetal intervention reducing risk as it helps guide surgeons while operating. Fetoscopic Surgery: This involves an endoscope with a camera, also known as a fetoscope, to guide surgeries for specific conditions. Open Fetal Surgery: Some conditions may require open surgery while a mother is still pregnant. This is also known as fetal surgery in which the mother’s abdomen is opened so a small opening can be made in the uterus. This allows our team of surgeons to perform surgery on the baby. Once the baby’s condition is treated, our surgeons will close the uterus and abdomen so the baby can continue growing and developing. Ex-Utero Intrapartum Treatment (EXIT) Procedure: This is a means of surgical delivery that is quite different from a Cesarean delivery. An EXIT procedure requires a general anesthetic to relax the uterus to allow surgeons to operate on the fetus while still being supported by the placenta. The most common indications for an EXIT procedure are those that compromise the fetal airway. Fetoscopic Tracheal Occlusion for Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia: The Fetal Care Center offers fetoscopic balloon tracheal occlusion to accelerate lung growth in patients with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia.
