Samuel: Maternal Fetal
Medicine Program at Penn
offers ultrasound services
to all pregnant women,
but then we also offer specialized care
for high-risk patients,
women with cardiac disease,
diabetes,
reproductive genetics,
prematurity prevention.
Michal: We are very focused
on a mission to improve
the lives of pregnant women
and their children.
To us, that mission can't occur without having
both a very strong
clinical side
and a strong research side.
The research side is
incorporated into what's called
the Maternal and Child
Health Research Center
which supports
and encourages research
in the field of obstetrics.
And this center has really been able to advance understanding,
adverse outcomes in pregnancy,
which will lead us
to offering new therapies
that actually improve the lives
of women and their children.
Samuel: This is one of the few
places in the United States
where all aspects
of obstetrical care
are available within a maternal fetal medicine division.
There is a convenience
for the patients
in that not only
do we do an ultrasound
and identify the problem,
but then we immediately
begin to take care
of the problem.
For many different
medical conditions,
we end up collaborating
with doctors in other fields
to provide
the most effective care,
and some examples of that
would be women with
complex cardiac disease.
When these women
become pregnant,
their care is very complicated,
and we co-manage them
with the cardiologist.
And working together and having
all the resources here,
and then very importantly,
all the intensive care units
available in and around
the time of labor and delivery
provide the safest care
for these women.
- Hi. How are you?
- Good.
- I'm Dr. Elovitz.
- Nice to meet you.
Michal:
Our goal is always to improve
the care of each patient,
but we have to think
beyond the moment.
We don't want to just
live in the moment.
We want to make a difference
for the future.
The Maternal and Child
Health Research Center
has really been able to capitalize on the expertise
outside of obstetrics.
We have colleagues
in immunology, cardiology,
bioengineering.
These collaborations are pushing
forward the research mission.
That does not happen
anywhere but at Penn.
[baby cries]
Pre-term birth occurs
somewhere between 12% to 15%
across the United States.
Here at Penn,
we did a 2,000-person study
looking at the microbiota,
which is the bacteria
that live in
the cervical-vaginal space.
No one's looked at that
in pre-term birth.
We did.
We hope that the findings
from this trial
will actually lead
to new therapies
that will significantly reduce
pre-term birth in women.
That's how what we do
in the Maternal and Child
Health Research Center
can be taken and translated,
and actually make a difference in patient care.
Samuel: The goal for our program
is to provide comprehensive effective care to women
while advancing
the care of women
through our research efforts
and training the brightest
young physicians in the country.
- Most research
that you're involved in
at the time of your pregnancy doesn't affect your pregnancy,
but what it does,
it provides us with information
that may make a difference
next time you're pregnant,
or may make a difference
for your friend or your sister,
or even your daughter.
