Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Specialized care for high-risk pregnancies
Maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) focuses on caring for people with high-risk pregnancies or health conditions that may affect pregnancy.
At Mass General Brigham, we offer a comprehensive range of high-risk pregnancy services. These include prenatal evaluation and diagnosis, assessment and treatment of fetal conditions, outpatient and inpatient consultation, advanced obstetrical ultrasound, genetic counseling, nutrition counseling, social services, and support resources.
Part of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Who may benefit from maternal-fetal medicine care?
Our MFM specialists work closely with your obstetrician and other medical experts to manage complex pregnancies and fetal conditions. We provide coordinated care before conception, throughout pregnancy, during delivery, and after birth, with the goal of supporting the safest possible outcomes for you and your baby.
You may be referred to a maternal-fetal medicine specialist if you have a medical condition before pregnancy or develop complications during pregnancy.
Patients with pre-existing medical conditions
Some patients seek MFM care because they have health conditions that require specialized management during pregnancy. These may include:
- Autoimmune conditions, such as lupus
- Blood clotting disorders
- Cancer
- Diabetes (Type 1, Type 2, or prediabetes)
- Heart disease or congenital heart conditions
- High blood pressure or chronic hypertension
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Kidney disease
- Lung disease
- Complex mental health conditions
- Substance use disorder
- Multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and other neurologic conditions
- Thyroid and other endocrine and metabolic conditions
We work closely with specialists in cardiology, endocrinology, nephrology, rheumatology, neurology, hematology, and more to help manage these conditions safely during pregnancy. Some patients are referred before conception for counseling and care planning.
Patients with pregnancy-related complications
Others are referred after a complication is identified during pregnancy. These may include:
- Abnormal ultrasound findings or fetal conditions
- Cervical insufficiency including cerclage
- Fetal growth concerns
- Fibroids
- Gestational diabetes
- Multiple pregnancy (twins, triplets, or more)
- Placenta accreta and other placental disorders
- Preeclampsia or gestational hypertension
- Pregnancies in which babies share a placenta (monochorionic twins)
- Preterm labor or a history of preterm birth
- Prior stillbirth
- Recurrent pregnancy loss or multiple prior losses
- Uterine abnormalities
Our approach to high-risk pregnancy care
If your pregnancy requires additional monitoring or planning for delivery, our team works closely with obstetric anesthesiologists and labor and delivery staff to support a safe birth experience. We offer individualized birth planning, advanced pain management options, and VBAC (vaginal birth after a cesarean) support when appropriate.
When complications arise before delivery, we may recommend hospital-based monitoring so you and your baby can receive close care until birth.
When complications happen during pregnancy (such as growth concerns, placental disorders, or preterm labor) our team provides advanced monitoring, testing, and treatment. For patients with pre-existing or pregnancy-related conditions benefit from coordinated care across our MFM and subspecialty teams.
We bring together maternal-fetal medicine experts and specialists in cardiology, endocrinology, hematology, neurology, oncology, pulmonology, psychiatry, rheumatology, and gastroenterology. This integrated model allows us to manage complex conditions safely during pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum recovery.
We offer focused services for patients with:
- Cardiometabolic conditions: Care for pregnancy-associated cardiometabolic conditions, including preeclampsia and related blood pressure and metabolic concerns.
- Cardiovascular disease: Care for pregnancy-associated cardiovascular conditions, including congenital heart disease, arrhythmias, and other heart and vascular concerns.
- Diabetes: Care for pregnancy-associated diabetes, including Type 1, Type 2, and gestational diabetes.
- Gastrointestinal disorders: Care for pregnancy-related gastroenterology conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease and other digestive concerns that can affect pregnancy.
- Blood disorders (hematology): Care for pregnancy-related hematologic conditions, including blood disorders and clotting concerns that can affect maternal and fetal health.
- Neurologic conditions: Care for pregnancy-related neurologic conditions, including epilepsy, migraine, multiple sclerosis, and other nervous system concerns.
- Cancer: Coordinated oncologic and maternal-fetal care for women diagnosed with cancer before or during pregnancy or those who have undergone cancer treatments prior to pregnancy.
- Pulmonary conditions: Care for pregnancy-related pulmonary conditions, including asthma and other lung diseases that can affect breathing and pregnancy outcomes.
- Mental health conditions: Care for pregnancy-related mental health concerns, including bipolar disease, major depression, PTSD and other psychiatric conditions that arise during pregnancy or may develop postpartum.
- Autoimmune and rheumatologic diseases: Care for pregnancy-related rheumatologic and autoimmune conditions, including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and other connective tissue disorders that can affect pregnancy care.
Our team provides advanced monitoring, testing, and treatment to help manage these conditions and support healthy outcomes.
We provide advanced prenatal testing and monitoring to help guide care and pregnancy management. Services may include:
- Specialized ultrasounds
- Fetal echocardiography
- Fetal MRI
- Genetic screening and counseling
- Amniocentesis
- Chorionic villus sampling (CVS)
- Other fetal interventions—cordocentesis, cardiac interventions, fetal shunts
We explain each test clearly and help you understand what the results mean for you and your baby.
Our MFM specialists bring their skills and expertise from the main hospital campus to community hospitals north and west of Boston. Mothers in these communities can get high-quality, high-risk pregnancy care closer to home. We offer:
- Consultation with an MFM specialist
- Medical and obstetric ultrasounds
- Genetic screening and counseling
- First trimester screening
Related conditions and treatments
- Gestational Diabetes
- Fetal Growth Restriction
- Preterm Labor
- Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes (PPROM)
- Placenta Previa
- Placental Abruption
- Oligohydramnios
- Polyhydramnios
- Chronic Hypertension in Pregnancy
- Gestational Hypertension
- Antiphospholipid Syndrome
- Cholestasis of Pregnancy
- Fetal Ultrasound
- Fetal Echocardiography
- Nonstress Test
- Biophysical Profile
- Doppler Flow Study
- Chorionic Villus Sampling
- Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) Screening Test
- First Trimester Screening
- Prenatal Ultrasound
- Blood Glucose Screening During Pregnancy
- Rh-Negative Screening
- Fetal Heart Monitoring
Specialized care near you
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