Elizabeth J. Ferrell Fetal Health Center Advanced care before, during and after delivery Welcome to the Elizabeth J. Ferrell Fetal Health Center How we can help Conditions managed that require specialized delivery services: The Elizabeth J. Ferrell Fetal Health Center at Children’s Mercy • Central nervous system abnormalities Kansas City provides the region’s most comprehensive care for • Congenital diaphragmatic hernia select high-risk pregnancies before, during and after delivery. • Congenital heart defects • Congenital lung conditions Established in 2010, the Fetal Health Center was designed • Cystic adenomatoid malformation from the ground up to offer healthy moms, like you, full access • Cystic hygroma/cervical teratoma to services so you can deliver in a state-of-the- • Duodenal atresia art environment where you and your baby stay in the same • Esophageal atresia and hospital, regardless of the complexity of your newborn’s tracheoesophageal fistula condition. • Gastroschisis Our center focuses on pregnancies that may benefit from: • Growth restriction • Hydrocephalus • Access to advanced diagnostics • Hydrothorax • Comprehensive prenatal counseling and care plan to • Intestinal atresia address pregnancy, newborn and postpartum needs • Neural tube defects • Prenatal interventions, or , while the baby is still • Omphalocele in utero • Skeletal dysplasia • Spina bifida • Labor and delivery on the same floor as an 87-bed Level • Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit • An integrated team of medical and surgical specialists with unmatched experience in caring for infants with fetal abnormalities You can rely on the Fetal Health Center team throughout your 1,337 deliveries pregnancy journey. We’re here to surround you with the expert care and support you need, when you need it most. since 2011 Services Provided

Perinatal Clinic Each year, nearly 400 families visit the Perinatal Clinic at the Elizabeth J. Ferrell Fetal Health Center for a consultation. Our team is highly trained and frequently performs many advanced diagnostic procedures to help your health care providers understand your baby’s condition. As a patient, you may receive one of these advanced tests/services:

Amniocentesis – test done during pregnancy to look for problems as your baby develops, including birth defects, genetic problems, infection and lung development.

Fetal echocardiogram – test that uses sound waves, or , to evaluate your baby’s heart for problems before birth.

Fetal surveillance – active monitoring of your pregnancy to be certain your baby has the healthiest possible start in life.

First and second trimester ultrasound screening – imaging test that uses sound waves to create a picture of how your baby is developing in the womb.

Diagnostic ultrasound – more advanced exam using equipment that provides a higher definition image, and can help in diagnosing specific problems, such as spina bifida, cleft lip or palate, or how well your baby is developing.

Integrated consults allow families to meet with everyone who will be caring for you and your child.

Integrated Prenatal Clinic Once you have a diagnosis for your baby, your nurse care coordinator will arrange for you to meet with a team of specialists who will be involved with caring for your baby. We call Specialists who might be involved in your integrated this an “integrated consultation.” consultation include:

You will be at the table with these specialists to talk directly about your baby’s diagnosis and treatment options and discuss all your / questions and concerns. Then, we work together to create the best possible plan of care for you and your baby. General Genetics You will also receive a tour of the delivery suites, NICU and anywhere else in the hospital that might be helpful for you to see. Fetal Cardiac Clinic Special Care Delivery Service Our Fetal Cardiac Clinic is staffed by an experienced team of The Special Care Delivery service at Children’s Mercy is how we fetal cardiologists, nurses and nurse practitioners. They are part deliver many babies followed in the Fetal Health Center – more of one of the top-ranking pediatric cardiology and heart surgery than 1,300 babies have been born here. This service brings the programs in the nation. region’s best pediatric specialists to your baby’s side moments after birth. You also will be just steps away from the region’s The Fetal Cardiac Clinic was established because heart only Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the highest level of conditions are fairly common among the babies we see in the care available. Fetal Health Center. In fact, about 40 percent of the center’s patients come to the clinic to have a heart condition evaluated. The care team that has been carefully preparing for your baby’s arrival will be ready for you when it’s time for your baby to At your first appointment, one of our specially trained fetal be born. Together, we’ll follow the care plan and you will see cardiac sonographers will do a screening echocardiogram, familiar faces checking in with you once your baby arrives. a type of ultrasound that closely examines your baby’s heart. Your cardiac care team will immediately review your results Your labor and delivery nurse will provide one-on-one care for and meet with you to discuss their findings and what you can you during your entire birth experience. After delivery, the care expect following the initial appointment. team will stabilize your baby in an adjoining room so you can see what’s going on and be with your support person or family. Your nurse care coordinator will be with you every step of your pregnancy if you have any questions leading up to your delivery.

As soon as possible, we’ll bring your baby to you so you can hold them, breastfeed, have skin-to-skin snuggles and take pictures. Our goal is to keep your family close, comfortable and connected while you and your baby get the care you need. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Most babies born in the Fetal Health Center also require a stay in our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). This 87-bed NICU is the largest and only Level IV intensive care nursery in the area and is staffed with experts caring for every aspect of premature and sick babies. You will meet many of these throughout your fetal health journey prior to delivery.

Upon admission to the NICU, every baby receives a thorough physical examination, as well as any necessary X-rays, laboratory tests or other procedures.

Maternal Fetal Transport If you experience a medical emergency during your pregnancy, there are two patients who need care – you and your baby. The award-winning Children’s Mercy Transport team partners with experts from our Fetal Health Center to help safely transport you to a higher level of care.

Our experienced team includes a high-risk obstetrical nurse, as well as our neonatal critical care transport team, which has advanced critical care nurses, respiratory therapists and emergency medical technicians. They are under the guidance of our maternal fetal specialists, who work with your doctor to coordinate transport to the best place of care for both you and your unborn baby, based on your condition and location. Conditions often treated with 238 fetal procedures fetal intervention: since 2017 • Airway obstruction • Amniotic bands • Congenital pulmonary airway malformation • Discordant monochorionic twins Fetal Intervention and Surgery • Fetal anemia and Rapid advances in the field of fetal surgery make it possible to correct or thrombocytopenia manage certain life-threatening conditions even before a baby is born. • Fetal bladder outlet obstruction Children’s Mercy cares for a growing number of mothers and babies • Fetal tumors through fetal surgery each year. • Latrogenic and previable The expertise you’ll find at Children’s Mercy is unmatched in the Kansas ruptured membranes City area. We look at all the options and unique circumstances for each • Lower urinary tract obstruction family to give babies with complex medical conditions the best possible (LUTO) and other urologic opportunity for a bright future. abnormalities • masses Experts in Fetal Surgery • Placental chorioangioma • Sacrococcygeal teratoma (SCT) Our Fetal Treatment Team, led by Emanuel (Mike) Vlastos, MD, FACOG, and other fetal neoplasms FAAFP, is an integrated group of surgeons, specialists and support staff • Selective intrauterine growth who carefully review each case to determine the best course of action for restriction the mother and baby. • Spina bifida myelomeningocele Your Fetal Treatment Team also includes anesthesiologists who consult repair with your OB and maternal fetal medicine specialists to determine the best • Twin-reversed arterial perfusion options for pain control during any situation that impacts you or your baby, (TRAP) sequence including surgery, labor and delivery. Children’s Mercy Kansas City Children’s Mercy Kansas City has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of “America’s Best Children’s Hospitals,” and has received Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence four consecutive times. With 366 licensed beds and a faculty of more than 800 pediatric subspecialists, we provide more than 600,000 patient encounters each year.

In addition, our leadership in pediatric genomic medicine and individualized pediatric therapeutics is driving research and innovation in fetal health, neonatology, nephrology, , , neurodevelopmental medicine, heart, cancer and other to transform outcomes for children here and around the world. Children’s Mercy is also nationally recognized for innovation in creating a family- centered environment that is focused on the unique needs of hospitalized children and their families. For more information: Contact us at (816) 234-9330 or toll-free (866) 281-8480 Visit our website at childrensmercy.org

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