Prenatal Cardiology Program

If your obstetrician detects an abnormality during a routine ultrasound, he or she may refer you for further testing. At Children’s National, we use the most advanced prenatal diagnostic imaging to capture detailed images of your child’s heart, including:

• Fetal echocardiography, an ultrasound of the heart, which helps us diagnose and manage prenatal heart conditions such as congenital heart disease, arrhythmias and congestive heart failure. Because we use the most advanced equipment and techniques, it is possible to identify defects as early as 12 weeks gestation.
• Fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is also used in some potential diagnoses to help assess the heart and surrounding structures. An MRI can help to complement the information learned through ultrasound.

Additionally, some unborn babies may benefit from medical in utero interventions, which include drug management of potentially life-threatening prenatal arrhythmias and treatment of heart failure.

Depending on the severity of your child’s condition, we will recommend that you deliver at your local hospital with support from our team, or deliver at the hospital that is in close proximity to Children’s National. In rare instances, we may consider delivery at Children’s National Hospital. We are a leader in the field of delivery planning and assess delivery risk for babies with congenital heart disease and other cardiovascular abnormalities. This helps us plan where you should deliver, as well as the predicted level of care your baby will need after birth. To ensure the best transition of care, our critical care delivery program team and the Heart and Lung Center collaborate to provide ongoing management for babies at the time of delivery and after they are born. Our care and support services include:

• Birth planning: We work with you, your family and medical professionals at your birth hospital to plan for your baby’s delivery and immediate after care. We ensure that the baby’s heart condition is managed effectively during delivery for the best outcome.
• Prenatal support services: The Prenatal Pediatrics Institute and Prenatal Cardiology Program team members enjoy strong ties in the community, allowing strong communication among local obstetricians, neonatologists and pediatricians.
• Prenatal Critical Care Delivery Program: This is a highly specialized program for situations when we anticipate the child will need immediate critical care at the time of birth. In these cases, the mother will either deliver at the hospital closest to Children’s National or in rare cases in Children’s National Hospital, with cardiologists and other specialists in the delivery room and the support of the obstetrical team and neonatal specialists.
• Cardiac surgery: When specialized cardiac care, including medical care, interventional catheterization, or cardiac surgery is anticipated soon after birth, we will arrange for you to deliver in a facility where our cardiologists can help stabilize the newborn before transport to our hospital.
• Continuing care at Children’s National: Once your infant has been transported to our hospital, he or she continues to receive the highest level of care in the region’s only dedicated cardiac intensive care unit.