Yale Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) is opening a new office in Westport in March to provide Fairfield County patients with a comfortable location close to home.
“We already have many patients who travel to New Haven from Fairfield County because they want a Yale specialist,” said Katherine Campbell, M.D., medical director for Westport. While the new office will primarily provide ultrasounds, “it will offer a level of convenience that is very important for patients who may have complicated pregnancies and have enough to think about already.”
Debbie O’Malley, who is in the middle of her second pregnancy, said, “The clinic will be a tremendous convenience for people in this area.” O’Malley sought out specialized care for elevated blood pressure during her first pregnancy; then an ultrasound discovered her unborn son had pleural effusion, a fluid buildup in the cavity around the lungs that had to be drained in utero before a careful delivery with multiple specialists on hand. Her son is now 3. “He’s a really robust little boy, almost top of the charts,” she said.
“This time I have elected to see these doctors from the beginning of my pregnancy,” O’Malley said. “I am willing to drive up to New Haven every four weeks and in between if I have to, but an office in Fairfield County will make it a lot easier.”
Caring for all pregnancies
Three Yale MFM specialists will see patients in Westport. In addition to Dr. Campbell, the other specialists include Katherine Kohari, M.D., and Heather Lipkind, M.D.
The providers will offer ultrasound consultation for patients who anticipate normal, uneventful pregnancies, as well as those who may need special care for complex situations. Prenatal testing and diagnosis will also be available. Among them, the doctors have vast experience in such areas as abnormal placenta, fetal growth restriction, multiple gestation, preeclampsia and preterm labor. Highly skilled sonographers will use the latest 2D and 3D ultrasound machines that show all details of the fetus, displaying the smallest variations in detail.
Most patients who visit the practice will have a normal healthy baby, even if they come in with some risk factors, said the doctors. However, “Our sonographers are particularly good at identifying anomalies” Dr. Lipkind added.
When doctors do detect a problem, they can quickly connect patients to other Yale services and specialists in other fields, from genetics to pediatric cardiology to pediatric surgery.
“As a practice, we sit down once a week to discuss patients we care for who may need additional services.” Dr. Kohari said. “If we diagnose an abnormality in utero, we can discuss a care plan prior to delivery, so the obstetrician, pediatrician and pediatric subspecialist can all get together to organize timing of delivery, mode of delivery and where the physical delivery should happen. That way the parents can have all their questions answered and we can prepare to care of both the mother and the newborn simultaneously as soon as the baby is born.”
Yale Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences physicians have provided care in Fairfield County for years, and have a proud reputation in maternal-fetal medicine, with such achievements as the first fetal cardiovascular center in the United States and the invention of fetal heart monitoring. Specialists also see patients at One Long Wharf and the Saint Raphael Campus in New Haven, as well as at St. Mary’s and Waterbury Hospital in Waterbury, and Lawrence and Memorial Hospital in New London.
Yale Maternal-Fetal Medicine opens in March at 125A Kings Highway North, Westport. Initial hours are Thursdays, 9:00AM to 3:00PM. For more information or to make an appointment call (toll-free) 844-YALE MFM (925-3636).