Our Services
-
Preconception screening and risk assessments
-
Prenatal screening and diagnosis
-
Counseling and education
-
Fetal Treatment Program
Most babies are born healthy. For the three to five percent born with some type of birth defect, however, the Maternal-Fetal Medicine program at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center offers hope and help to families.
Here, we offer physician-directed genetic and pre-conception counseling. You’ll learn about your risk factors before a pregnancy or, if you’re carrying a child with a birth defect, you'll learn more about the defect and available treatment options. Together with your primary Ob/Gyn, our maternal fetal medicine physicians work with you to assess your level of risk and to verify and diagnose any abnormality. Then we provide personalized, comprehensive counseling, education and fetal treatment options.
Why Choose Ohio State?
For women and families experiencing uncertainty surrounding the potential risks or the diagnosis of a developmental abnormality, Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center’s Genetics and Preconception Program provides personalized care, support and education.
Our genetics and preconception counseling team is led by a maternal fetal medicine physician who is dual board-certified in both medical genetics and obstetrics and gynecology. She is one of only 200 maternal fetal medicine doctors nationwide, and the only one in central Ohio, with these credentials to address high-risk obstetric complications, as well as pediatric and adult genetic medical conditions. Her expertise can help you better understand your risk of having a baby with a birth defect or genetic condition¾and better prepare you for what to expect when baby arrives.
Your care team also includes three board-certified prenatal genetic counselors that draw upon a collective 40 years of experience in the field. And, because we’re part of an academic medical center, you’ll have access to innovative research, medical expertise and the latest technologies and treatments. In fact, our maternal fetal medicine physicians are actively involved in clinical research and have participated in the development and testing of many of the screening procedures and treatments we offer.
Our Patients
Women and families come to us for personalized genetic and preconception counseling due to a family or personal history of a genetic condition, difficulty in getting pregnant, or multiple miscarriages or infant deaths. You may wish to seek genetic counseling if:
- You are/will be 35 years of age or older when you deliver. The odds of having a child with a chromosomal change, such as Down syndrome, increase with maternal age.
- A screening or diagnostic procedure revealed an increased risk for a fetal abnormality.
- An ultrasound identified a possible abnormality in baby’s development, such as cleft lip, spina bifida or heart defect.
- You and your partner are close relatives, such as first cousins.
- Your ethnic or racial heritage puts you at higher risk for certain genetic conditions. For example, couples of African descent have a higher chance of having a child with sickle cell anemia; couples of European Jewish (Ashkenazi) or French Canadian descent have a higher risk for Tay-Sachs disease; and couples of Italian, Greek or Middle Eastern descent have a higher chance to carry the gene for thalassemia, a blood cell disorder.
- You have identified a condition in a close relative that raises concern for this pregnancy to be at risk.