Care Team, Therapy & Support
Maternal-fetal medicine (MFM)
Maternal-fetal medicine is the specialty caring for higher-risk pregnancies, including when a baby has a prenatally diagnosed condition.
In short: Maternal-fetal medicine (MFM)
- An MFM specialist helps manage a pregnancy after a prenatal diagnosis.
- They coordinate prenatal imaging and planning.
- They help plan delivery at an appropriate center.
- They work with the broader care team.
What it is
It is the obstetric specialty focused on higher-risk pregnancies, including those in which the baby has a prenatally diagnosed condition such as encephalocele. An MFM specialist (also called a perinatologist) provides specialized prenatal care.
Understanding Maternal-fetal medicine (MFM)
After an encephalocele is found prenatally, an MFM specialist helps manage the pregnancy — coordinating detailed imaging (such as fetal MRI), monitoring the pregnancy, and helping plan for delivery at a center equipped to provide the needed care. They work alongside the broader team, including neurosurgery and neonatology, so that care is coordinated from before birth through delivery and beyond.
Why it matters
Understanding maternal-fetal medicine helps families see who guides the pregnancy after a prenatal diagnosis and how prenatal care and delivery planning are coordinated with the team that will care for the baby.
Common questions
What does MFM do?
Cares for higher-risk pregnancies, including after a prenatal diagnosis.
When is MFM involved?
After a condition like encephalocele is found prenatally.
What do they help plan?
Prenatal imaging, monitoring, and delivery.
Bottom line
Maternal-fetal medicine cares for higher-risk pregnancies and coordinates prenatal care and delivery planning after a prenatal diagnosis.
Browse all 265 Encephalocele definitions
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