Linda M. Szymanski, M.D., Ph.D. , and Kylie Cooper, M.D. , highlight the extensive multidisciplinary training that Mayo Clinic staff members have received in maternal-fetal medicine that has prepared them to work with high-risk pregnancies. They describe the complex medical conditions impacting mothers that can be treated at Mayo Clinic.
When a patient comes to Mayo Clinic for a complicated issue with their pregnancy, I've seen them feel very relieved when they've realized that we have seen this issue before to know that we will know how to take care of them regardless of what happens with them in their pregnancy. Most commonly we see patients who have preexisting medical conditions that can complicate pregnancy, including diabetes, high blood pressure, some autoimmune disorders, cardiac conditions. We also care for multiples as well, so twins and triplets, for example. A multiple pregnancy like twins or triplets is a higher risk pregnancy from the get go. They are at increased risk of the basic problems of pregnancy like preterm delivery, preeclampsia. A twin delivery can be a little more complicated than a singleton delivery, and we have the the personnel here who are able to uh provide women with the option to have a safe vaginal delivery. Substance use disorders are common and they do complicate pregnancy. It's important for people to know that there are really good medical treatments um for substance use disorders and pregnancy, and we're here at Mayo Clinic to help you manage those concerns. We are very often referred patients who have preexisting cardiac conditions with their pregnancy, which can make the pregnancy much more complicated. We have a specialized cardiac obstetrics team who has an interest and expertise in caring for those that come into pregnancy with either a congenital heart condition or A heart condition that they've developed over time that can impact a pregnancy. We have conferences with them about each patient. We discuss their plan of care and so it's really a complete model of care for patients who have these types of specific problems. I'm here to care for patients from an emotional standpoint as well. Understanding that it can be very hard to um come to care, it's important that my patients feel heard um and welcomed into care and that they know that we are here for them throughout the process as well as postpartum. If a patient needs to come here to see us and they have another medical. Also, we do all that we can to make it as seamless and stress-free of a process as possible. Our multidisciplinary care at Mayo Clinic helps patients in a variety of ways. We support them in the setting of fetal anomalies with pediatric subspecialty care. Including imaging and a plan for their baby after birth, we also support patients who have complex medical conditions and utilizing other specialties, expertise, including cardiac conditions, kidney issues with nephrology, as well as oncology care and those that are facing pregnancies in the setting of cancer. The very unique thing is that many of our specialists in addition to being experts in their field, also have an expertise in pregnancy care in their field which is quite unique and provides the patient with an excellent resource and kind of full service care. Communication is key. We work with referring medical professionals in many ways and so in some aspects we do need to care for. Patient primarily at Mayo Clinic, but in many circumstances we serve as a consultant. When a patient is referred here for uh either a consultation or to be taken care of during their pregnancy, they can expect that the team here will kind of provide full level care for them, so we will make sure that their medical or fetal issue is taken care of. We will have them meet with all of the providers that they need to. Meet with if they're going to deliver here. So we try to provide them with the full outline of care from their pregnancy from the moment they get here to the time they deliver and and sometimes even after that point. One of the most rewarding things about being in this field is being able to take care of that patient who has had these negative outcomes in the past and get them through a pregnancy with a successful outcome, and that to me is what makes it all worthwhile.
