Maternal-Fetal Medicine

Our Maternity Center has been nationally recognized with top honors as a five-ribbon hospital on Newsweek’s list of America’s Best Maternity Hospital, as Best Maternity Hospitals | US News and Blue Distinction Center for Maternity by Blue Cross Blue Shield. Our Maternity and Childbirth Center also received “best of” distinction in Central Massachusetts.

If you’re experiencing a high-risk pregnancy or have certain medical conditions that could make a pregnancy risky, you can trust UMass Memorial Medical Center to safely guide you through pregnancy. Our maternal-fetal medicine specialists are the region’s only doctors with advanced training in high-risk obstetrics, offering a high level of care you won’t find anywhere else in Central Massachusetts.

What Is a High-risk Pregnancy?

A high-risk pregnancy is one in which certain conditions put you, your developing fetus or both at higher-than-normal risk for complications during pregnancy and/or after your baby’s birth. These conditions can include:

• You’re over 35 years old
• You have a chronic or complex medical condition such as high blood pressure, heart or kidney disease, or an autoimmune disorder
• You have diabetes or develop it during pregnancy (pregnancy induced diabetes)
• You have a family history of genetic/hereditary concerns
• You’re carrying more than one baby (twins or triplets, for example), also called multiple gestation
• Your pregnancy is not progressing as expected
• You’ve had a previous preterm delivery (premature birth)
• You’ve had complications during a previous pregnancy

Compassionate Care for High-risk Pregnancies

Our high-risk pregnancy doctors provide complete and attentive obstetric care before and during your pregnancy. Our services include:

• Preconception consultation
• Prenatal testing
• Obstetric ultrasound
• Specialized procedures to minimize the chance of early delivery
• Genetic testing and counseling
• 24/7 access to our specialists during your pregnancy
• Care coordination with any other specialists you may need to see

For information about special tests for monitoring fetal well-being, please visit the ACOG. 

In addition to doctors, your care team at the Medical Center includes nurses, social workers, dieticians, genetic counselors and ultrasonographers. This team works closely with you and your obstetrician to find answers and safely guide you through a complicated pregnancy. 

For added confidence, we also offer the region’s only Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) – a unit designed to care for newborns with any problems 24/7.