The Fetal Concerns Center provides a comprehensive team approach when caring for women and their unborn children. Froedtert & MCW health network and Children's Wisconsin work in close collaboration to deliver high-quality, comprehensive fetal care. 

The Fetal Concerns Center is located within Children's Wisconsin and is the only program of its type in Wisconsin.

The Fetal Concerns Center was developed to provide a complete range of care for women whose pregnancies are complicated by concerns of fetal abnormalities. Services available within the program include:

  • Early education on prevention of birth defects
  • Fetal diagnosis of birth defects
  • Prenatal counseling regarding the specific diagnosis with the neonatologist, the maternal fetal specialist, and pediatric and surgical specialists
  • Obstetrical management and delivery
  • Fetal surgical interventions
  • Neonatal management of infant
  • Linking families to support services

Specialized Nurse Coordinator

Within the Fetal Concerns Center, all care is coordinated through a specially trained nurse coordinator. This individual arranges services and provides ongoing counseling and information, both prior to and immediately after the birth. Having a "familiar face" to turn to during this potentially traumatic time is intended to ease the process of adjustment for both the mother and family.

Preventing Birth Defects

The Fetal Concerns Center offers educational and counseling services to women of childbearing age, with a goal of maximizing the probability of a healthy pregnancy. This can include components such as folic acid education and toxic exposure in the home or workplace.

According to the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, there are 3,000 to 5,000 different types of birth defects. Every three and one-half minutes, a baby with birth defects is born. These children may be unable to walk, to hear, to think, or even to fight off disease. While the cause of about 60% of birth defects is unknown, infant deaths from birth defects have been cut in half since 1960.

Early Detection and Counseling

Early on in your pregnancy, you'll be introduced to all of the physician specialists expected to be involved in the care of you and your unborn child. Complete and understandable information is provided regarding your specific diagnosis and the options available to you. You will be involved in all decisions regarding your case.

The Fetal Concerns Center provides support for community physicians in diagnosing and managing patient pregnancies suspected to involve complications. Counseling and education are available to help families and physicians make the most informed decisions for their baby and family — ranging from obstetrical management of the mother and baby to neonatal and surgical management for the infant.

Seamless Care Under One Roof

It is common for a child with special needs to be born in a hospital without the special expertise needed to care for it. In such situations, the mother and the newborn infant are often required to be separated, with the infant being transferred to another hospital

In the Fetal Concerns Center, patients have access to all the care they need — under one roof. From early education on prevention of birth defects, to fetal diagnosis of a birth defect, to provision of prenatal counseling, to obstetrical management and delivery, to optimizing care for both the mother and the baby, to neonatal management of the infant after birth, to linking families to support services during the child's first year of life — the Fetal Concerns Center offers it all.

Contact the Fetal Concerns Center at 414-337-4776 or 855-338-2594 (toll free).

Learn More

The Fetal Concerns Center is a cooperative effort between the Froedtert Hospital Birth Center and Children's Wisconsin. Learn more at chw.org, the website for Children's Wisconsin.

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