Perinatology

What is Perinatology?

Perinatology actually means prenatal pregnancy period. It has been translated into Turkish as a high-risk pregnancy specialist. It is a sub-branch of obstetrics that deals with maternal and infant health.

A perinatologist is also an obstetrician. After receiving a minor specialization, he becomes a perinatologist. A person does not even need to be pregnant to come to the perinatologist, and the duty of the perinatologist begins before pregnancy.

When should I go to a perinatologist? A person does not even need to be pregnant to come to the perinatologist, the duty of the perinatologist begins before pregnancy. If the mother has a chronic disease, in cases such as diabetes, collagen connective tissue diseases and blood pressure, a pregnant woman should be followed up by a perinatologist both related to the branch of the disease and obstetrics. Before the pregnancy starts, it is clear that a woman with such diseases will experience a risky pregnancy. This woman is in the risk pregnancy category.

A second condition is problems with the baby detected during pregnancy or problems with the mother detected during pregnancy, such as pre-existing gestational diabetes and gestational blood pressure, which usually occurs after the 20th week of pregnancy. With the addition of protein in the urine, what we call preeclampsia, what we call pregnancy poisoning can occur, and the pregnant woman who does not have a problem at first can fall into a high-risk pregnant state. Such situations put the mother in the risky pregnancy group. These risks sometimes affect only the mother negatively, and sometimes they affect both the mother and the baby. Some problems with the baby can put the mother in the risky pregnant category. This risky pregnancy may have placental placement disorders. If the placenta covers the cervix, this pregnant woman has no chance of normal delivery. A picture can occur that can even cause maternal deaths.

What is the role of the perinatologist? What we do more is to examine the baby’s organs and determine if there are any problems with the baby. These determinations are at the earliest in the 3rd month, ie 11-14. It starts with a double test at the gestational week. Nape thickness, nasal bone, hands, feet, heart, stomach, urinary bladder, double arteries in the umbilical cord are examined in the early period of the baby. The baby’s brain needs to be between 19 and 20 weeks for complete completion and evaluation. During these periods, we can diagnose whether the midline structures of the brain are normal or not, hydrocephalus and some brain anomalies. There are many conditions such as the event that we call megacystis of the urinary bladder for severe heart problems, the inability of the baby to urinate and some cases where the bladder swells. As a perinatologist, in such cases, in the first 3 months and 11-14. Diagnosis can be made within weeks.

What is dual testing? A double test is performed by entering the baby’s neck thickness, nasal bone, and the baby’s head-butt distance. At this stage, down syndrome and a few other conditions are screened. There are some limit values ​​in the double test, if it is determined above these limits and values, the baby is at risk and an intervention should be made accordingly. Among the people, their names are called color ultrasound, four-dimensional ultrasound, detailed ultrasound, and second-level ultrasound. It’s all the same thing. Here we examine the baby’s organs, we look at the blood flow, we look at the echo, we evaluate the baby’s heart. We examine, identify and intervene early in any risk situation that may result in negative outcomes for the baby and mother before and after pregnancy.