Perinatal

What is Perinatology?

Perinatology actually means prenatal pregnancy. 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, the duty of the perinatologist begins before pregnancy.

In what cases should I go to the 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, a pregnant woman should be followed up by a perinatologist both related to the branch of the disease and obstetrics in cases such as diabetes, collagen, connective tissue diseases and blood pressure. Before the pregnancy begins, it is clear in advance that a woman with such diseases will experience a risky pregnancy. This woman is in the category of risky pregnancy.

A second condition, problems with the baby detected during pregnancy or problems with the mother detected during pregnancy, such as pre-existing gestational diabetes, gestational blood pressure, usually occur after the 20th week of gestation. With the addition of protein in the urine, a picture that we call preeclampsia, which we call pregnancy poisoning among the people, may occur, and the pregnant woman, who did not have a problem at first, may become a high-risk pregnant woman. Such situations put the mother in the risky pregnancy group. These risks sometimes adversely affect only the mother, and sometimes affect both the mother and the baby. In some problems related to the baby, it can put the mother in the risky pregnant category. This risky pregnancy may be placental placement disorders, if the placenta closes the cervix, this pregnant woman has no chance of normal delivery, she should have a cesarean section, if she has performed a cesarean section before and this placenta has settled in the place of the old cesarean section, excessive bleeding may occur and this mother must be delivered by expert teams, in this way, a picture that can even cause maternal deaths may occur due to lack of opportunities.

What is the role of a perinologist?

What we do more is to examine the baby’s organs and determine whether there are problems with the baby. These determinations are started with a double test at the earliest in the 3rd month, that is, at the 11-14th week of gestation. In the early period, the baby’s nuchal translucency, nasal bone, hands, feet, heart, stomach, bladder, double arteries in the umbilical cord are examined in the early period. The baby’s brain needs to be at 19 to 20 weeks for full completion and evaluation. During these periods, we can diagnose whether the midline structures of the brain are normal or not, blisters, hydrocephalus and some brain anomalies. There are many conditions such as severe heart problems, what we call megacystis of the bladder, the baby’s inability to urinate, and some conditions where the bladder is swollen. As a perinatologist, in such cases, diagnosis can be made between the first 3 months and 11-14 weeks.

What is a double test?

A double test is performed by entering the baby’s nuchal translucency, nasal bone, and baby’s head-butt distance. At this stage, Down syndrome and a few other similar conditions are screened. There are some limit values in the double test, if it is detected 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, second-level ultrasound. It’s all the same thing, we’re looking at the baby’s organs, we’re looking at the blood flow, we’re looking at the echo, we’re evaluating the baby’s heart. We examine, detect and intervene early before and after pregnancy in any risk situation that may result in any negative consequences for the baby and the mother.