Maternal-Fetal Medicine

High-risk obstetricians, also called maternal-fetal medicine specialists, help diagnose and treat conditions that may put a pregnant woman and her child at risk. Our compassionate specialists provide a full range of consultation services like pre-conception and genetic counseling, prenatal diagnosis, and management of medical conditions.

The Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the University of Miami is staffed by maternal-fetal medicine physicians who specialize in treating women with medical and obstetrical issues like preexisting diabetes, chronic high blood pressure, preeclampsia, preterm labor and other complex medical conditions that affect pregnancy. Our maternal-fetal medicine specialists also provide comprehensive and compassionate care to patients who may experience unexpected problems during their pregnancy, such as early labor, bleeding or high blood pressure and provide care for babies who may have birth defects or growth problems.

Our maternal-fetal medicine physicians are experts in using high-resolution ultrasound testing and genetic testing, helping you receive valuable information about you and your child’s health. We are here for you throughout pregnancy and beyond — using advanced technology and years of training and experience to help you and your baby stay safe.

Our services include:

• 3D and 4D ultrasound evaluation and treatment
• Amniocentesis
• Antepartum testing, including Doppler flow velocimetry
• Chorionic villus sampling (CVS)
• Critical care obstetrics
• Fetal echocardiography
• Fetal surgery
• Genetic counseling and testing
• Genetic sonograms

Our Division is located within an academic medical center which provides excellent care for patients with complex medical issues that cannot be addressed at other outpatient clinics.

We work with an interdisciplinary team in the management of pregnancies with diagnosed fetal anomalies, second-trimester pregnancy complications, and serious maternal conditions.  We understand that a visit with us may come at a stressful time, and we are committed to giving you the most caring, compassionate, and professional services possible.

The UHealth/Jackson Fetal Care Center, located in the Women’s Hospital at Jackson Memorial, is an international leader in fetal health. Led by world-renowned fetal surgeon, Dr. Rodrigo Ruano, our multi-disciplinary team of maternal-fetal experts and pediatric specialists handle the most complex cases prioritizing both mom and baby.

Fetal surgery and intervention can often be offered for severe congenital anomalies in order to treat babies prior to birth. This helps improve the long-term outcome of children with specific birth defects with procedures performed on an unborn baby in the uterus. Congenital anomalies are usually identified around 20 weeks of pregnancy during the recommended fetal anatomy scan. Once diagnosed, it’s important to evaluate early intervention options. Our multidisciplinary team can offer the best treatment options with many specialists coming together using the latest technology and techniques.

Driven by academic research from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, our experts serve two to three times more patients with clinically complex conditions than any other maternal-fetal medicine program in South Florida. Today, we’re the leader in perinatal and fetal medicine in this community.

We are ready to help. Call 305-243-4530 for an appointment or obtain further information here.

Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship

We appreciate your interest in our program and look forward to showing you all of what makes us so proud of the University of Miami/Jackson Health System Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship Program and the UM Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Our ACGME and ABOG-approved, three-year fellowship program trains specialists to provide care and consultation for patients with obstetric, medical and surgical complications during pregnancy. Fellows are trained to assess and treat the maternal and fetal effects of these disorders and to manage pregnancies complicated by primary fetal conditions, including structural and functional abnormalities or primary maternal conditions, including complex maternal cardiac disease and placenta accreta.

Fellows learn high‐risk pregnancy management through a combination of didactic lectures and conferences given by anesthesiology; human genetics; maternal-fetal medicine; neonatology and pathology faculty. Fellows also obtain significant hands‐on experience and the opportunity to make independent decisions in both outpatient and inpatient settings, under the guidance of MFM faculty members.

Fellows have a breadth of opportunities that can be focused on individual interests, including biostatistics and epidemiology; critical care; fetal echocardiogram; genetics and infectious disease. Our fetal therapy program continues to expand, and fellows have exposure to advanced procedures. Fellows are all trained in amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling.

Our program is based at Jackson Memorial Hospital, the primary teaching affiliate of the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, in addition to the UHealth Tower, a University of Miami Hospital and Clinics Facility and various UHealth clinics. Jackson Memorial Hospital is a tertiary care referral center for high-risk pregnancies in South Florida, and the surrounding domestic and international regions.

The surroundings in which you train are an important aspect of selecting a fellowship program and Miami is a unique and wonderful place to both work and live. Situated in one of the world’s premier destinations, we invite you to come discover for yourself why patients, physicians and students from across the country and around the world are drawn to Miami and Jackson Memorial Hospital. We look forward to receiving your application and training prominent academic leaders in our subspecialty.

- Anna Sfakianaki, M.D., M.P.H.