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The Center for Maternal Fetal Medicine

For expectant mothers, the prospect of having a baby brings excitement and anticipation. While most pregnancies proceed smoothly, occasionally an obstetrician finds concerns either for the health of the mother or the development of the baby.

Special perinatal care for mother and baby
A referral to the Center provides the physician a wide spectrum of highly specialized diagnostic and therapeutic proceedures to monitor the pregnancy from conception through delivery. The maternal-fetal team utilizes the latest technology for pregnancy assessment and has the expertise to assist in creating a personalized plan of treatment.

Working hand-in-hand with the mother’s obstetrician, the team provides ongoing consultation, while the obstetrician continues to manage the pregnancy and deliver the baby.

The Center for Maternal Fetal Medicine offers:

  • Consultation for high-risk pregnancy, including evaluation and design of a treatment plan.

  • A mulit-disciplinary team provides evaluation and support of high-risk pregnancies where the fetus is diagnosed with a congenital and/or genetic defect. This may include consultation with a geneticist, neonatologist, cardiologist, pediatric surgeon, and other support staff as necessary.

  • Obstetrical ultrasound can provide images early in the pregnancy for a thorough evaluation of the fetus. Ultrasound is used to check for intrauterine growth problems, malformations and multiple pregnancies.

  • Fetal well-being tests include non-stress tests (NST) to observe the changing patterns of fetal heart rate, which indicates the placenta is functioning appropriately.

    Doppler flow tests provide a blood flow evaluation of different fetal-placental and uterine blood vessels to detect a malfunctioning placenta or abnormal flow in fetal or maternal vessels.

  • Fetal echocardiograms provide a specialized ultrasound examination of the fetal heart to diagnose problems with structure and/or functioning. For some conditions, such as arrhythmia, procedures may be done while the fetus is in the uterus or immediately after birth.

  • Intrauterine procedures include the latest advances in detection and treatment of certain fetal conditions through amniocentesis and peri-umbilical blood sampling. These diagnostic procedures allow the physician to assess fetal genetic material through examination of amniotic fluid, the placenta or even fetal blood. If needed, it is even possible to administer medication directly to the fetus.

  • Preconceptional Assessment and Genetic Evaluation services offer couples assessment of structural and/or functional anomalies that might be transmitted to their babies. We also provide information for couples with a family history of genetic disease or recurrent pregnancy loss, as well as patients who have been exposed to drugs or environmental substances.

  • The Cytogenetics laboratory performs maternal blood screenings for chromosomal abnormalities and neural tube defects, as well as karyotype studies on material from spontaneous abortions or samples from the fetus.

  • The anatomical pathological laboratory studies complement the cytogenetics laboratory with evaluation of placentas, embryos, fetuses and newborns to determine the cause of an abnormal evolution of a pregnancy.

  • The specialized clinical laboratory at Sacred Heart provides a variety of obstetrical analysis, including fetal lung maturity tests, thrombophilia and intectious disease testing.

  • Chaplaincy offers services and support for any couple referred to our Center, especially those whose baby has been diagnosed with a fetal malformation or a high probability of developmental challenges.

Perinatology

Reinaldo Acosta, MD - Medical Director

Sacred Heart Center for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Reinaldo Acosta, MD - Medical Director

Doctor Acosta received his medical degree from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana School of Medicine in Bogata, Columbia. He completed an internship in obstetrics and gynecology at Caguas Regional Hospital in Canguas, Puerto Rico and a residency at the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan. He then completed fellowships in maternal-fetal medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and at Stanford University Medical Center.

Contact Us:
Sacred Heart Center for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
101 W 8th Ave Suite 1100
Spokane, WA 99204

Phone: (509) 474-4060
Fax: 474-6198