Where do I go for high-risk pregnancy care at Texas Children’s?

Image courtesy of Paul Kuntz

The Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) Center located in the Pavilion for Women is the main hub of care for the high-risk obstetrical patient at Texas Children’s Hospital.

Our facility is designed to optimally provide care for pregnant women needing access to a high-risk MFM specialist and their other subspecialty partners needed to co-manage such pregnancies.

Can you individualize care to meet my needs?

Each referral is screened on an individual basis, and care planning and scheduling is customized to meet the requests of the referring provider and your specific needs.

The unit is readily able to manage a pregnancy needing specialty screening or oversight due to an established or newly developed risk factor. Our team can also provide consultative co-management with a primary obstetrician. In addition, we provide total obstetrical care for pregnancies needing continuous surveillance and care through the center’s MFM specialty care team.

Our unit can also bridge access to Texas Children’s pediatric subspecialists for our youngest Texas Children’s Hospital patients through our Fetal Center care program.

What kinds of patients are seen in the MFM Center?

Most patients are referred by their primary obstetrician or current MFM physician and include:

• Pregnant women referred for advanced imaging (ultrasound and/or MRI) diagnostics in pregnancy
• Pregnant women with preexisting medical problems
• Pregnant women with history of pregnancy complications or obstetrical problems
• Pregnant women with new onset maternal problems in their current pregnancy
• Pregnant women with fetal problems or abnormalities in their current pregnancy
• Pregnant women with multiple pregnancies (complex twins, triplets, quadruplets, +)
• Non-pregnant women who have medical problems or a history of problems in previous pregnancies, and who want to become pregnant, for pre-conceptual counseling

What should I know about the MFM Center?

Understandably, no one ever hopes to need our team or services, but those who entrust their care to us typically do not want to leave us once their care with our team is completed.

We commit to treat, respect and embrace you within our care team and will advocate with a spirit of hope and perseverance to provide you, your baby (or babies) and family with the highest level of care.

We will take the time to inform you and to listen to your needs and wishes. We will include you as the key member in your care.

What kinds of services are provided in the MFM Center?

Services offered in the MFM Center include:

• Obstetrical imaging – BCM MFM ultrasound and Fetal and Maternal MRI
• Genetic counseling and screening by BCM Prenatal Genetics
• Consultative and total obstetrical care by BCM MFM
• Adult Congenital Heart Obstetrical Clinic
• Fetal ECHO diagnostics and consultation by Texas Children’s Heart Center®
• Nutritional consultation by certified diabetes educators
• The Program for Multiples
• Texas Children's Fetal Center® consultation and care
• Social work and child life consultation
• Palliative care counseling

What kinds of providers and teams see patients in the MFM Center?

The unit is designed so that the majority of services and partners needed to participate in the pregnancy come to this unit to see you. We pride ourselves in providing a “one stop,” comprehensive, coordinated nature of care designed for optimal clinical timing, as well as the convenience and comfort of our patients and families.

On a given day in the unit, we regularly have:

• MFM physicians and nurse practitioners
• Certified prenatal genetic counselors
• Certified diabetes educators
• Diagnostic medical sonographers
• Pediatric cardiologists
• Pediatric radiologists
• Pediatric subspecialists and surgeons
• Palliative care specialists
• Social workers
• Adult subspecialists
• Maternal and fetal nurse coordinators
• Antenatal testing center registered nurses

Where do your patients come from?

Most of our patients are from Houston and its surrounding areas. They are referred from community obstetricians, as well as those who practice at the Pavilion for Women. However, many of our patients travel from across the state, country and world to access the expertise within our MFM Center.

Do you have other locations in the community?

Yes! We have several satellite MFM and Fetal Center ECHO clinics located in the surrounding communities of Houston. Our goal is to keep as much of your care close to home as possible.

Our locations currently include Baytown (MFM), Katy (MFM & ECHO), Houston Methodist in the Texas Medical Center (MFM), The Woodlands (MFM & ECHO), Northwest (MFM), Cy-Fair (ECHO) and Sugar Land (MFM & ECHO).

Many of the same services provided in the MFM Center are also available at these locations, which are generally a good starting place for most patients.

Here we grow again!

Based on the high demand for our services and our goal to keep access open for all patients needing our care, we’re currently expanding our MFM Center!

Construction began in September 2018 and will be completed by spring 2019.

We’re adding additional ultrasound imaging suites, family and individual consultation rooms, total care clinic rooms and office space to accommodate our growing team.

If you’re interested in learning more about high-risk pregnancy care at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, click here.