Every woman hopes for a normal, uneventful pregnancy, but sometimes life has other plans. In some cases, medical complications can put the health of a mother or her baby at risk. These situations call for the expertise of a maternal fetal specialist – a doctor who is an expert in complicated pregnancies.
One of those physicians is Corrina Oxford, MD, who sees patients at Penn Medicine Cherry Hill and at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and is one of only a handful of doctors in the nation who is triple board certified in general Ob/Gyn, maternal fetal medicine, and critical care medicine. As women continue to get pregnant at more advanced ages and the rate of complicating medical conditions continues to rise, Dr. Oxford is called upon often for her specialized services.
Maternal Fetal Specialists
“Maternal fetal specialists treat two patients at the same time – the pregnant mother and her developing baby,” says Dr. Oxford, who is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology. “In most cases, the medical issues I deal with involve the mothers, but sometimes there is an abnormality in the fetus that needs to be addressed.”
In South Jersey, Penn has brought this high level of care closer to home for patients. “We’re lucky because in many parts of the country patients have to drive hours to see a maternal fetal specialist,” says Dr. Oxford.
Women most often require the care of a specialist like Dr. Oxford when they have a medical condition that may complicate their pregnancy, including cardiac disorders, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, cancer, or lung problems among others. Other reasons include a history of complicated pregnancies, recurrent miscarriages, or preterm birth.
“We do a lot of preconception counseling to ensure that women with existing health conditions can safely get pregnant and carry a baby to term,” says Dr. Oxford. “We discuss our findings with patients and let them know where the risks lay. If a woman decides to progress with a pregnancy, we work with her to achieve the best outcome possible.”
During pregnancy, maternal fetal specialists use ultrasound, blood tests and other procedures to look inside the womb and evaluate the developing fetus. If a problem such as a birth defect or chromosome abnormality is found, the doctor will work with the patient and a team of other specialists to manage the pregnancy and plan for what steps will need to be taken after birth.
Penn Medicine's Simulation and Team Training Program
Strengthening Dr. Oxford’s credentials further is her involvement in Penn Medicine’s Ob/Gyn Simulation and Team Training Program. This program put doctors, residents, nurses and other medical professionals into simulated but realistic situations so that they may hone their skills in a controlled environment.
“The program uses high-fidelity mannequins to create very realistic scenarios,” she says. “For example, we can simulate what would happen if a woman’s heart stops during delivery or if she has a hemorrhage at birth. These are very infrequent events, but preparing for these worst-case scenarios helps ensure that we are ready for anything.”
A new mother herself, Dr. Oxford comments that she could have been her own patient.
“Technically, I was at higher risk due to my age and some preexisting health issues,” she says. “Being in that situation opened my eyes to what my patients experience. Seeing a woman get through a pregnancy that she wasn’t sure she could make it through is an awesome experience.”