Seamless and Coordinated Care for High-Risk Pregnancies

The Barbara Peterson Ruhlman Women & Newborn Center at University Hospitals MacDonald Women’s Hospital provides exceptional and comprehensive prenatal care coordination for women with high-risk pregnancies and their babies.

Our board-certified maternal fetal medicine (MFM) physicians offer focused care for all phases of high-risk pregnancy from conception through delivery and post-partum care.

Maternal Fetal Medicine Services

Our team offers a wide range of prenatal care services, including:

• Preconception care: Appointments with an MFM expert for patients with prior adverse pregnancy outcome, family history or medical diagnoses for recommendations to optimize pregnancy outcome
• Single consultation: Appointments with an MFM expert for high-risk pregnancies with follow-up, as needed
• Shared care: Prenatal care remains with the referring provider, with scheduled follow-up consultations and ultrasounds, as needed
• Care coordination: For either consultation or shared care patients, our fetal care patient navigator can coordinate visits with adult and pediatric specialists.
• Diabetic management: Weekly patient contact for blood sugar management and recommendations after initial MFM consultation
• Ultrasound and other tests: Prenatal diagnosis, including amniocentesis and CVS, FIRST trimester screening for aneuploidy, 3- and 4-D ultrasound, antenatal testing including BPP and fetal Doppler assessment, if indicated
• Comprehensive genetic testing: Preconception and prenatal counseling is available for families and include tests such as ethnicity-based carrier testing, maternal serum screenings, and prenatal diagnosis through chorionic villus sampling and amniocentesis.
• Fetal procedures: Specialists skilled at performing a variety of fetal procedures, including abdominal cerclage, fetal intrauterine transfusions, shunt placement and transvaginal cerclage.
• Fetal heart program: Offering fetal echocardiograms when indicated and coordination of care with the Pediatric Heart Center team to ensure a seamless transition from prenatal to postnatal care.
• Inpatient transfer: Access to MFM experts for consultation 24 hours a day to arrange for inpatient transfer
• Transport services: Referring physicians and hospital have access to the maternal and neonatal transport services 24 hours a day, seven days per week. MFM phone consultations are also available during select hours.

Ruhlman Women & Newborn Center Welcomes Referrals

Doctors can refer a patient to one of our board-certified maternal fetal medicine specialists at UH MacDonald Women’s Hospital by calling 216-844-8545.

• For MFM Consultation: call 216-844-8545
• For OB ultrasound: call 216-844-7881
• For genetic counseling: call 216-844-3936
• For fetal echocardiogram: call 216-844-1337

Materials for Referring Physicians

The following referral forms and information materials are available for download:

Maternal Fetal Medicine Consultation Referral Form

Ongoing Care Conferences

All members of the care team are invited to participate in weekly, multidisciplinary care conferences, which are designed to ensure that obstetric patients who are hospitalized prior to delivery receive the best care for optimal outcomes.