Fetal medicine

Centre for fetal care

The fetal medicine unit at Queen Charlotte’s was one of the first to be established in the UK and offers a highly specialist service.

We are also an NHS England commissioned centre for looking after women with placenta accrete spectrum (PAS).

We care for expecting parents where there are concerns about the wellbeing of the unborn baby (fetus) or babies (fetuses). We see around 5,000 patients a year, usually following referrals from GPs and midwives.

We provide a range of cutting-edge diagnostic tests and treatments and have a genetic counsellor based within the unit.

Diagnostic tests

• amniocentesis
• chorionic villus sampling (CVS)
• fetal blood sampling

Treatments

• laser treatment in cases of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome
• in-utero blood transfusions for fetal anaemia
• radio frequency ablation for identical twins.

Clinics

We run a range of joint clinics with fetal medicine and linked specialties for:

• babies with suspected brain conditions - with paediatric neurology and paediatric neuro-radiology
• Women with complex multiple pregnancies who need diagnosis and therapy
  • babies with kidney issues - with paediatric urologist and nephrologist
  • Placenta Accreta Spectrum (PAS) - with gynaecological oncology, anaesthetics and specialist neurology
• newly pregnant women and families who have experienced baby loss
  • genetic counselling – with a dedicated clinic to discuss diagnosis and testing
  • clinical genetics/morphology - with clinical genetics consultant

Additional information

Research

We are a world leading research hub, pushing the boundaries of what is possible to improve care for expectant parents and their babies. Our research is in conjunction with engineering, neonatology, physics, genetics and other disciplines. We conduct research in some key emerging areas of fetal-maternal medicine, often in partnership with Imperial College London, different sponsors and with support from the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre. There are many different studies running at any one time, such as:

• HIFU trial, which explores how high intensity focused ultrasound could be used as a non-invasive treatment for twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS)
• Placental mapping in complex monochorionic pregnancies
• TRUFFLE 2 study, which is led from Imperial and involves 52 other UK and European centres We hope to be able to determine the best time to deliver babies who are not growing as expected, by understanding better how to carefully balance the risks of poor growth with the risks of early delivery to ensure the best possible outcome for both mother and baby.
• Placenta Accreta imaging: we are at the forefront of 3D ultrasound imaging of the placenta combined with specialist Doppler modalities
• Genetic and genomic research, in conjunction with the Institute for Child Health and NHS England
• 3D fetal facial analysis in the diagnosis of genetic syndromes (with the Institute for Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital).

Training

We're a major training centre in the UK and internationally, recognised by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology for subspecialty training in maternal-fetal medicine.

We welcome senior resident specialist doctors from abroad and have established rotations with hospitals in Italy and Spain.