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ELEVATE YOUR

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     Maternal-fetal      MOST WOMEN LEARN they are pregnant four              A baby may have fluid collecting around
      specialists at     to seven weeks after conception. By then, the     his or her lungs—a condition known as
Navicent Health help     baby has already begun to form the tissues        pleural effusion—and the fluid can compress
keep babies healthy—     that will become organs. An ultrasound may        the lungs and stop them from developing
   even before they      find the flutters that will become the baby’s     properly. To help with this issue, Dr. Woodham
                         heartbeat. At the start of the second trimester,  and the other maternal-fetal medicine
        are born.        while the baby weighs less than a D-size          specialists at Perinatal Associates can place a
                         battery, the baby’s lungs are formed but still.   shunt inside the baby’s chest, giving the fluid
   TO HEAR ONE MOTHER’S                                                    a passageway to exit the baby’s lungs.
      STORY, VISIT WWW.     Most of a baby’s organs will not be finished
        YOUTUBE.COM/     developing until week 37 or 38, and babies           “We can do the same thing for a baby’s
       NAVICENTHEALTH.   born before this time can have serious health     bladder,” Dr. Woodham says. “If the bladder
                         complications that can have short- and long-      is not emptying urine, it can lead to kidney
                         term impacts on their health and well-being.      failure. A shunt in the baby’s bladder can help
                                                                           urine leave.”
                            “Sometimes, a baby’s organs do not
                         develop correctly, and the baby is not ready         Specialists can also increase or decrease the
                         to live outside of its mother,” explains          amount of amniotic fluid surrounding the baby
                         Padmashree “Champa” Woodham, MD,                  by injecting saline or removing amniotic fluid
                         FACOG, maternal-fetal medicine specialist         to help the baby develop and prevent early
                         with Perinatal Associates and Director of         labor. Amniotic fluid is important for the baby:
                         Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Navicent Health.       too little can lead to a lack of development,
                         “If that’s the case, we perform surgery while     while too much can make it difficult for the
                         the baby is still inside the womb.”               baby’s lungs to inflate.

4 navicenthealth.org | FALL 2019
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