Dr. Thinh Nguyen, Division Chief of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Nemours Children’s Health, Florida

In an interview with Invest:, Dr. Thinh Nguyen, division chief of Maternal Fetal Medicine at Nemours Children’s Health, Florida, shared how the team at Nemours is raising the bar for maternal fetal medicine. “As part of Nemours Children’s mission of promoting Whole Child Health, we believe that maternal fetal medicine plays an important role bringing this mission statement to life even before the child is born,” said Nguyen.

What role does MFM play in helping families understand prognosis, treatment options, and long-term outcomes for fetal diagnosis?

At Nemours Children’s Health, our initial role as maternal fetal medicine specialists is to confirm the diagnosis. After confirmation, we then become the hub to help guide the patient through the pregnancy and the challenges they may face. We provide detailed and appropriate counseling; we review and arrange additional testing and advanced imaging that provides us with the ability to give a more precise idea of possible treatment options. We also help them to understand pregnancy complications and long-term expectations associated with a complex fetal diagnosis. 

How does MFM collaborate with pediatric specialists here to coordinate care?

A large Nemours Children’s interdisciplinary team, which consists of maternal fetal medicine and many of our pediatric subspecialists, meet on a weekly basis to review all patients with a complex fetal diagnosis. This allows us to collaborate and quickly coordinate care, minimizing delays and helping to  make sure that the care plan is communicated to all that are involved. 

In addition, the patient is then referred to the appropriate pediatric specialists well in advance of birth. The care team meets the family and helps  them to understand and develop the best care plan while maintaining the utmost respect for their personal wishes and beliefs. This allows us to have a cohesive plan that minimizes the risk to the mother and the baby, providing the best chance of an optimal outcome. 

This approach gives the patients the time to process the information and best understand the possible long-term effects. It also enables them the opportunity to ask the appropriate specialists the right questions. 

What prenatal diagnostic services does the Center for Fetal Care offer and how do results change the care plan for the child after birth?

The Center for Fetal Care at Nemours Children’s Health provides a detailed fetal ultrasound assessment to aid in a precise fetal diagnosis, as well as prenatal genetic testing via chorionic villous sampling (CVS), amniocentesis, and periumbilical cord blood sampling.

We also offer fetal echocardiography, fetal body and cardiac MRI in association with our pediatric cardiology and radiology colleagues. 

We have prenatal genetic counselors to help patients understand genetic diagnoses that can often accompany complex fetal diagnosis and also provide preconception counseling to help patients understand and minimize maternal and fetal risk for future pregnancies. By providing all these different services we can help lower the anxiety that is associated with the complex fetal diagnosis and allow the family to focus on treatment and care for their child. 

How does the Center for Fetal Care support families emotionally and practically when a fetus is identified with a complex medical condition?

We have a team of physicians, nurses, and social workers who are experienced in and committed to supporting parents whose children have complex medical issues. Our maternal fetal medicine physicians provide compassionate and patient-centered care utilizing the latest research and up-to-date management. Our patient coordinators help to ease the burden of a complex diagnosis by helping to arrange specialist care, provide timely advice, or sometimes just provide a shoulder to cry on. We also have social work to help ease the burden that a complex fetal diagnosis can place on a family.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

As part of Nemours Children’s mission of promoting Whole Child Health, we believe that maternal fetal medicine plays an important role bringing this mission statement to life even before the child is born.