Complete Obstetric Services
At Women’s Health Specialists you’ll find a full range of obstetrics care for your baby and yourself, like delivery, breastfeeding and more.
Preconception Counseling
Planning to conceive is a big decision and it makes sense to seek out advice from an expert early on. Preconception counseling with Women’s Health Specialists can help you prepare for every step along your upcoming journey and take the best care of your body and your newest addition.
The way you take care of yourself during your pregnancy impacts your baby’s health. At Women’s Health Specialists, we’ll be there for you every step of the way by testing you and your baby for many kinds of prenatal issues.
Childbirth Classes: The Bradley Method is a system of Husband-Coached Natural Childbirth. Hospitals provide these classes.
Emotions During Pregnancy: Although each pregnancy is unique, certain changes are common to all normal pregnancies. A basic understanding of physical and emotional changes of pregnancy helps a woman to understand pregnancy and have a positive experience.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: FAS, a disorder characterized by growth retardation, facial abnormalities, and central nervous system dysfunction (CNS), is caused by a woman's use of alcohol during pregnancy.
Folate and Birth Defects: Folate can help decrease the risk of birth defects, such as spina bifida, and encourages healthy growth during pregnancy.
Home Pregnancy Tests: These provide privacy and fast results, and can detect pregnancy as early as six days after conception, or one day after a missed menstrual period.
Nutrition and Supplements for Pregnancy: Even before pregnancy begins, nutrition is a primary factor in the health of mother and baby. A well-balanced diet before conception contributes to a healthy pregnancy and will probably need few changes.
Pre-conceptual Counseling: If you're having sex and you’re capable of becoming pregnant, you should be taking 0.4 mg. of folic acid each day in case you become pregnant--even if you are not planning to become pregnant for a long time.
Pregnancy and Eating Disorders: One of the most important things a woman can do to ensure a healthy pregnancy for herself and her baby is to eat a well-balanced diet. Good nutrition during pregnancy is essential to creating an environment that allows the baby to grow and flourish.
Pregnancy and Exercise: The benefits of exercise, good nutrition, and the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle are undisputed as ways to reduce many of the diseases that affect women such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, and obesity.
Prenatal Testing: A variety of prenatal tests are available. While not all patients need or will have all the various tests, it is good to know that they are available.
Tay-Sachs Disease: This is an inherited, neurodegenerative disorder found in eastern European Jewish families and some French-Canadian families. It is characterized by progressive mental and physical retardation and early death.
Tests of Fetal Well-Being: These tests are designed to evaluate the status of the placenta and whether or not oxygen and nutrition transferred to the fetus are being affected.
Toxoplasmosis: This is an infection caused by a single-celled parasite named Toxoplasma gondii found throughout the world.
Travel During Pregnancy: Through the first two trimesters and into the third, it is perfectly safe to travel as long as you are not experiencing any complications and your doctor has not indicated any reasons for prohibiting travel.
Vitamin A and Birth Defects: Serious public health concerns have arisen around consuming large amounts of vitamin A.
Weight Gain During Pregnancy: The average recommended weight gain during pregnancy is 25 to 35 pounds.
Genetic Testing
Our genetic tests during your pregnancy can screen for any number of disorders or abnormalities in your growing baby. We can help you prepare for life with a new baby and give you peace of mind during pregnancy.
Alpha-Fetoprotein Test: The AFP test identifies pregnancies at higher-than-average risk of certain serious birth defects, such as spina bifida (open spine) and Down syndrome.
Amniocentesis: This is a procedure performed on pregnant women in their second trimester to diagnose or rule out birth defects.
Chorionic Villus Sampling: CVS is a procedure used to diagnose certain birth defects in the first trimester of pregnancy. The test has been performed regularly since 1982, and thousands have been performed around the world.
The Triple Screen Test: This is a prenatal blood test that measures alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), and unconjugated estriol (uE3). It’s performed between the 12th and 19th week of pregnancy to provide you and your doctor valuable information about you and your growing fetus.
Cell Free DNA Genetic Test: This is a blood test that can detect fetal cells and check for genetic abnormalities.
Pregnancy Complications & High-Risk Care
More than 95 percent of pregnancies we see at Women’s Health Specialists fall into the "normal" range. That includes nausea, frequent urination, emotional changes, shortness of breath, and heartburn.
What "normal" doesn't include are conditions that may cause pregnancy complications. Here are some of the more common occurrences.
ABO Incompatibility: When the fetal blood type is different from the mother's blood type, the mother creates antibodies against the fetus' incompatible blood type. These antibodies enter the placenta and begin to destroy the fetus' blood cells.
Amniotic Constriction Bands: These are created with the placenta (amnion) is damaged during pregnancy and produce fibrous bands that can entrap the fetus. It can cause causing deformities of the face, abdominal or chest walls, club foot, or missing limbs or digits.
Asthma in Pregnancy: It is estimated that between 3% and 4% of the general population and 1.0% of pregnancies are affected by asthma.
Brachial Plexus Palsy and Fractured Clavicles: These are fetal injuries that often result from difficult vaginal deliveries involving shoulder dystocia (difficulty delivering the shoulders) in an infant with macrosomia (large gestational weight).
Cancer in Pregnancy: Many challenging issues arise when cancer is diagnosed in a pregnant woman. The course of treatment depends on the circumstances of her pregnancy and whether the cancer was diagnosed before pregnancy.
Cervical Incompetence: This is defined as a condition where the cervix begins to open and thin due to pressures of the growing fetus and uterus.
Consumption of Fish During Pregnancy: Healthcare officials have issued a new advisory on the dangers of eating fish. Healthcare officials are concerned that the level of mercury in fish might pose certain risks to a developing fetus.
Dermatologic Conditions in Pregnancy: Skin changes take place as a normal part of pregnancy. Some of the changes are specific to pregnancy.
Down Syndrome: Down syndrome is a birth defect that occurs in approximately 1 in 900 births. It is the most common birth defect.
Gestational Trophoblastic Disease: This is a term that includes several conditions that are associated with placental abnormalities of a pregnancy.
Headaches and Pregnancy: Many women suffer from mild headaches early in pregnancy. However, these headaches should not be ignored.
HELLP Syndrome: HELLP stands for Hemolysis, Elevated Liver Enzymes, and Low Platelet count. It is an acronym for a severe complication of preeclampsia (toxemia of pregnancy), which occasionally occurs late in pregnancy.
Hematologic Problems in Pregnancy: Anemia is a fairly common condition among women. Due to physiologic changes seen in pregnancy, anemia is even more common than in non-pregnant women.
Intrauterine Growth Retardation: This term is used to describe an infant whose weight is significantly less than expected for its gestational age.
Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis in Pregnancy: These are collagen vascular disorders. They both have a predisposition for appearing in women during their childbearing years.
Macrosomia: This term is used in obstetrics and gynecology to describe large fetuses/infants. The incidence of greater than 4000 gram (approximately 8 pound) infants is approximately 5%, the incidence of greater than 4500 gram (approximately 9 pound) infants is approximately 0.5 to 1%.
Meconium Aspiration: This results when a fetus or newborn inhales meconium, which can block the airways and irritate the lungs.
Multiple Sclerosis in Pregnancy: MS is a common neurological disorder that generally affects young adults. The exact cause of this neurological disorder is unclear.
Oral Opportunistic Infections: Emerging evidence may link severe periodontal disease in pregnant women to a sevenfold increase in the risk of delivering preterm low birth weight babies.
Placental Abruption: The separation of the placenta from the site of uterine implantation before delivery of the fetus.
Placenta Previa: This condition occurs during pregnancy when the placenta implants in the lower part of the uterus and blocks the cervical opening to the vagina, preventing normal delivery.
Postdate Pregnancy: An average of 10% of normal pregnancies extend beyond 42 weeks. These are called post-term or postdate pregnancies.
Pregnancy in Your 30s and Beyond: Over the past two decades the increase in the number of women becoming pregnant in their 30’s and 40’s has increased dramatically.
Preterm Labor: This is one of the most serious obstetrical problems. Approximately 1 in 10 births result in preterm labor with preterm delivery of a small infant.
Recurrent Pregnancy Loss: Also called repeated miscarriage or recurrent fetal loss, this is the inability to carry a pregnancy to term.
Renal Disease and Renal Transplant During Pregnancy: Although fairly uncommon in pregnancy, renal disease (kidney disease) can have fairly serious consequences in pregnancy.
Sarcoidosis and Tuberculosis in Pregnancy: These pulmonary disorders can complicate pregnancy. Sarcoidosis is a chronic disorder that affects multiple organ systems and is of unknown etiology. Its prevalence in the United States is approximately 0.02%.
Sickle Cell Disease in Pregnancy: This is a disease of red blood cells that presents many unique challenges during pregnancy.
Stillbirth: This is defined as the death of a fetus between the 20th week (5th month) of pregnancy and birth. This is a particularly devastating problem for the parents and the physician.
Thrombocytopenia and Hemoglobinopathies in Pregnancy: These two blood disorders may be seen in pregnancy, and while they are fairly uncommon, can cause serious complications.
Thrombophlebitis: This occurs when a blood clot and inflammation develop in one or more of your veins.