High-Risk Pregnancy Care
When a pregnancy is potentially high risk because of age or pre-existing medical conditions, both mother and child need a special kind of care. Maternal Fetal Medicine is available in this region only at North Mississippi Medical Center's Women's Hospital in Tupelo. A satellite clinic is held the second Thursday of each month at NMMC Gilmore-Amory. Our goal is to help high-risk mothers prepare for healthier births.
A high-risk pregnancy is one in which some condition puts the mother, the baby or both at an increased risk for complications during or after pregnancy and birth. A woman’s OB-GYN may refer her to a maternal fetal specialist for many reasons—including managing multiple gestations (complex twins, triplets or more); monitoring preeclampsia or incompetent cervix; counseling for age-related risks, screening for Down syndrome and other issues.
Some women need only a single consultation before or during pregnancy to help them prepare. Others may need regular prenatal visits to the maternal fetal specialist to monitor their condition or perform fetal assessments with ultrasound.
Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist
A native of Oxford, Dr. Justin Brewer received his bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in health care management from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. He earned his medical degree from the University of Mississippi School of Medicine in Jackson, and completed his residency in obstetrics-gynecology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He then completed three years of fellowship training in maternal fetal medicine at UMMC and launched the Maternal Fetal Medicine program in Tupelo. He is board certified in obstetrics-gynecology.
Dr. Brewer works closely with the mother’s OB-GYN, sending test results and recommendations after each office visit. The OB-GYN remains the mother’s primary caregiver and will continue to see her for regular visits and, in most cases, delivery.
Who is at High Risk?
Maternal Fetal Medicine specializes in the diagnosis, treatment and care of expectant mothers and their unborn babies who may be a high risk for health problems, including:
- Multiple gestations (complex twins, triplets and more)
- Hypertensive disorders (preeclampsia)
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- Seizure disorders
- Lupus
- Blood clotting disorders
- Prior pre-term birth
- Advanced maternal age
- Cervical insufficiency
- Placental abruption (premature separation)
- Family history of genetic disorders
- Previous child with Down syndrome
Specialized Services
- Pre-conception counseling
- Routine and high-risk obstetric ultrasound
- Genetic counseling
- Prenatal diagnostic procedures
- Targeted sonographic evaluation of fetal anomalies and growth disorders
- Fetal echocardiography
- First trimester aneuploidy screening for Down syndrome and other chromosomal anomalies (nuchal translucency evaluation)
- Second trimester screening
- 3D and 4D ultrasound
- Cell-free fetal DNA (non-invasive prenatal testing)
From genetic counseling to targeted sonography, NMMC offers the highest level of care from preconception through delivery. NMMC cares for all stages of life, including the very first.
