Maternal Fetal Medicine

The Maternal Fetal Medicine Center (MFM) at Touro uses a collaborative approach with fetal medicine, obstetric care and pediatric care to offer exceptional care for the most fragile pregnant women and their babies. The vast majority of women have healthy pregnancies and their babies are born without difficulties. However, women with high-risk pregnancies often need a close watch for potential problems or complications.

Touro Maternal Fetal Medicine Clinic
3700 St. Charles Ave., 7th Floor
New Orleans, LA 70115

For more information or to make an appointment, please call 504.565.9218

Some conditions that may warrant maternal and fetal testing include the following:

• Abnormal amniotic fluid amounts
• Abnormal fetal growth
• Existing health conditions - diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease, obesity, and HIV-positive
• High blood pressure
• Multiple births (twins or more)
• Post-term pregnancy
• Young or advanced maternal age

Fortunately, there are many tests and procedures to monitor the health of both mother and baby. Many of these pose little or no risk and can provide tremendous amounts of information to doctors, midwives and expectant parents. At the MFM Center at Touro, we offer a perinatology clinic with specially trained and certified physicians and staff to treat patients with high-risk pregnancies.

Our services include the following diagnostic tests and procedures:

• Amniocentesis: a procedure used to obtain a small sample of the amniotic fluid that surrounds the fetus to diagnose chromosomal disorders and open neural tube defects (ONTDs) such as spina bifida.
• Anatomical and Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging: a diagnostic technique which uses high-frequency sound waves to create an image of the internal organs. A screening ultrasound is sometimes done during the course of a pregnancy to monitor normal fetal growth and verify the due date.
• Biophysical Profile (BPP): assesses fetal breathing movements, fetal movements, fetal tone and amniotic fluid volume, in combination with the nonstress test.
• Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS): a test offered to women who are at increased risk for chromosomal abnormalities or have a family history of a genetic defect that is testable from the placental tissue. CVS is usually performed between the 10th and 12th weeks of pregnancy.
• Consultations for pre-conception/genetic assessment and evaluation, and management of medically high-risk pregnancies (diabetes, hypertension, infectious diseases, renal or cardiovascular disorders)
• Maternal/Paternal Genetic Testing: a professional assessment of a person’s or couple’s risk factors regarding their family history, medical history, and/or pregnancy history. The goal of genetic counseling is not only to assess risk, but also to explain the cause and inheritance of a disorder, the availability of testing, the prognosis, medical management, and treatment.
• Nonstress Testing (NST): measures the fetal heart rate in response to the fetus’s movements. Generally, the heart rate of a healthy fetus increases when the fetus moves. The NST is usually performed in the last trimester of pregnancy.
• Percutaneous Umbilical Blood Sampling (PUBS): a procedure used to diagnose, treat or monitor fetal problems by withdrawing a small sample of the fetal blood from the umbilical cord.

Touro’s Maternal Fetal Medicine Clinic is the first practice in New Orleans to be awarded Ultrasound Practice Accreditation by The Ultrasound Practice Accreditation Council of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine in the areas of Obstetric - First Trimester, Obstetric - Second Trimester, and Obstetric - Third Trimester.

Learn More About AIUM Accreditation

Our providers

Our services are provided by the LSU Health New Orleans maternal fetal medicine physicians.

• Ann Chau, M.D. | Maternal Fetal Medicine
• Asha J. Heard, M.D. | Maternal Fetal Medicine
• Keith Lescale, M.D. | Maternal Fetal Medicine
• Robert T. Maupin, M.D. | Maternal Fetal Medicine
• Tabitha Quebedeaux, M.D. | Maternal Fetal Medicine
• Jay Davis, M.D. | Maternal Fetal Medicine

We also have two full-time certified Ultrasound Technologists and provide full nursing support for clinical care coordination.