Women's Health

Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship Program

Clinical Facilities

Inpatient Facilities
Outpatient Facilities

Inpatient Facilities

The in-patient facilities at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) occupy two floors of the south inpatient tower. A total of twenty-two antepartum and postpartum beds, are currently located on the sixth floor in our Mother-Baby (MBU) Unit. The neonatal intensive care unit and term nursery are on this floor as well. Immediately above this unit on the seventh floor, is Labor & Delivery (L&D).

L&D consists of three traditional labor rooms, four LDRP’s, three operating/cesarean delivery rooms, a four bay recovery room, and a 2-bed triage area. All labor rooms have been recently renovated and beds have upgraded automated equipment for central monitoring of maternal vital signs and electronic fetal monitors. A portable ultrasound machine, with full Doppler capabilities is permanently located on L&D. Invasive maternal physiologic monitoring equipment is portable and can be used in any of the labor rooms. The obstetrical anesthesia service maintains offices on L&D and is on-site 24 hours a day. Maternal and fetal blood gas analysis is performed in a satellite laboratory run by the Department of Pathology immediately adjacent to the NICU. This service is available 24 hours a day. Amniotic fluid testing for fetal lung maturity, infection, and chemistry tests is available 24 hours a day as well.

Adjacent to labor and delivery is a 5 bed maternal intermediate care unit which opened on October 31, 2005. The Intermediate Care Unit (IMC) is used for initial evaluation of high-risk antepartum patients who need close observation for maternal and/or fetal problems but not yet ready for induction and/or labor and delivery.

Outpatient Facilities

The outpatient facilities in which the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellows work are located both on and off the UMMC campus.

In 2002 the Center for Advanced Fetal Care (CAFC) relocated to a 3600 square foot site on the sixth floor of the north inpatient tower. The CAFC utilizes a multi-disciplinary team approach for the diagnosis and management of the families with fetal structural, growth, infectious or maternal medical abnormalities. Our new facility consists of a waiting room, a reception area, a report and data/image management area, four ultrasound/procedure rooms, and two consult rooms and a lab area for specimen handling. The Antenatal Testing Unit is now an integral part of the CAFC, consisting of a two-bed unit in which biophysical and electronic fetal heart rate monitoring is performed.

It is at this site that most antepartum and genetic testing is performed. Anomaly scans, targeted imaging, nuchal translucency, invasive fetal procedures, and genetic testing are performed in the CAFC. It is here that the fellows undergo the bulk of the ultrasound training described below in section VII. para. F. The CAFC serves patients from throughout the State of Maryland, and from parts Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and beyond. The Center is staffed by maternal fetal medicine subpecialists, RDMS certified sonographers, genetics counselors, and dedicated nurses. Consultations with pediatricians, neonatologists, pediatric surgeons, and social work and chaplaincy services are coordinated through the CAFC, and often take place within the CAFC to maximize patient convenience.

The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Mercy Medical Center, chaired by MFM division member Robert Atlas MD, is now fully integrated with our Department at UM-SOM. Under his direction of, The Center for Advanced Fetal Care at Mercy Medical Center (CAFC @ MMC), serves an additional training site for the fellow. The CAFC @ MMC provides the same spectrum of care as the University based CAFC with the exception of invasive fetal procedures. The Fellows spend two months in the CAFC @ MMC during the second year to gain an additional training in an outpatient maternal fetal medicine practice setting. Training opportunities include targeted sonography, amniocentesis, CVS, maternal fetal medicine, and genetic consultation. The newly relocated and renovated 2200 square foot center consists of a waiting room, a reception area, a report and data/image management area, two ultrasound/procedure rooms, and a four exam rooms in which biophysical and electronic fetal heart rate monitoring is performed.

The Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine maintains a private MFM practice immediately off campus and also sees MFM consults at an outreach site in Frederick Maryland. Fellows have the option to participate at these sites during the second and third year in order to be exposed to yet another aspect of perinatal practice. The Fellow while on clinical rotations may accompany a member of the MFM division to these consult clinics and see a full spectrum of patients referred from local practitioners for consultation, ultrasound evaluation amniocentesis etc. with visits up to once a week depending on the site. The Fellows participation at all sites will be under the direct supervision of MFM faculty. This clinical experience is designed to prepare the Fellow to function as an expert consultant in MFM by exposing the Fellow to a different type of patient population from that seen in an inner city hospital and not to generate income for the Fellow or the division.

The University of Maryland Women’s Health Center at Western-Penn is located one block south of the UMMS, and it is here that the High Risk Pregnancy Clinic meets. The space consists of a large waiting room, clerical and administrative spaces, four consultation rooms, and eight exam rooms. The high-risk pregnancy clinic is in session two half days per week. Fellow training is based on the principle of progressive responsibility. The Fellow spends one session per week in the high-risk pregnancy clinic. During the first year the fellow sees patients along side a more senior fellow, and under the supervision of a faculty perinatologist. The faculty member is present in the clinic at all times to provide close supervision of and consultation to the fellow, while at the same time allowing the fellow to teach and direct the clinical activities of the of junior fellows, residents and students. The goal of this organized clinical experience is to allow the Fellow progressively more responsibility in evaluating and managing complex antepartum patients, while at the same time assuring close supervision and availability of faculty. Fellows attend the High Risk Clinic during research months throughout their first, second and third years. This clinic experience serves as a continuity clinic for the fellows.

This page was last updated on: October 30, 2007.