How Will an MFM Specialist Follow Me?
At UR Medicine Maternal-Fetal Medicine, we are proud to offer three types of maternal-fetal medicine care, helping you gain access to the care you need but also allowing you stay closer to home or with your primary OB/GYN for delivery, if possible.
Consultative Care
We often work with a patient’s regular obstetrician to develop a care plan and perform ultrasounds and consultations throughout the pregnancy. Though a patient may have several appointments with the maternal-fetal medicine specialist, the obstetrician will continue to manage the pregnancy and deliver the baby.
Our specialists will work directly with your current providers to ensure you maintain the relationships you have already established, with no need to transfer from your current provider. We will make sure you feel comfortable with the plan that is put in place for you and your growing family.
For women cared for in consultation, most will be seen once, and a plan put in place to allow delivery with their provider at their preferred hospital. Perinatologists are not typically present at delivery, but are available for consultation as needed by phone at any time, or in-person at Strong Memorial and Highland Hospitals.
Please note that co-management visits or consultative care is outside of the typically global billing for prenatal care, and you will receive separate charges for these visits.
Comprehensive Pregnancy Care
For women that have more complex disease who can benefit from the direct care by UR Medicine Maternal-Fetal Medicine, or for women expecting a baby with a complex condition that requires the services of the UR Medicine's Golisano Children’s Hospital, our team will help develop a plan and provide care for a patient throughout pregnancy.
Most of our patients and their baby(ies) need oversight and care from MFM for their pregnancy management and while setting the plan for pregnancy, but their labor and delivery care is similar to other pregnancies. We therefore share on-call responsibilities with a highly-trained group of faculty generalist obstetrics physicians.
A maternal-fetal medicine physician is present in the hospital during daytime hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday - Friday). For all other times, a member of URMC obstetrical team is present in the hospital and will oversee your labor and delivery. There is an MFM on-call by phone 24 hours a day if patients have questions or concerns, and are available if complications arise.
Inpatient Labor and Delivery Care
Not every baby waits until the due date to arrive! If you have unexpected complications or issues arise in your pregnancy, you may be transferred from your hospital to URMC for care and possible delivery. Some of the common reasons for urgent transfer include early water breakage (preterm premature rupture of membranes), preterm labor, and maternal complications like preeclampsia at early gestational ages.
As the regional perinatal center and regional referral center, we commonly accept transfers of women and babies with complications at any time in pregnancy.
When women are transferred to URMC for obstetrical care, they become patients of UR Medicine Maternal-Fetal Medicine for the duration of their stay with us. Depending on your exact situation, after discharge, you may need to follow up with us or you may be referred back to your primary OB/GYN office.
What is a Regional Perinatal Center?
New York State developed perinatal regionalization to ensure that pregnant patients and their babies would have ready access to the services they need. With perinatal regionalization, each hospital receives a designation indicating the level of care they can provide. There are four levels of care, I - uncomplicated term delivery to IV - a full range of maternal and infant services.
The perinatal services for each region are led by a Regional Perinatal Center (RPC), a level IV hospital that has the most sophisticated care for pregnant people and babies with the most complex, critical problems. The RPC also provides the hospitals within a region (called affiliate hospitals) education, advice and support, and is available to handle any problems they might have.
When a pregnant person or baby has problems that require more expert care than the regional hospital affiliate can provide, they know they can turn to their Regional Perinatal Center (RPC) for specialized consultation on complicated cases or to assume care for patients needing more highly specialized care.
URMC is the Regional Perinatal Center for the Finger Lakes region, and the leader in caring for the sickest pregnant people and babies.