Women's Services | Antenatal Testing | Childbirth and Newborn Care | Maternal Fetal | Meet the Team | Midwifery | MOMobile | New Moms & Dads | Pelvic Pain | Reproductive Medicine | Research | Specialty Services
The Fetal Care Center of Arizona (FCC) at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center is one of just a few comprehensive fetal care centers in the United States, and the only dedicated fetal care center in Arizona with an experienced fetal surgeon. Our program focus and our volume of patients keep us at the forefront of treatment advances and enable us to tailor a care plan for each family’s situation. Our goal is the best outcome for mother and baby. In the mission of the Catholic Faith, we are here to offer hope, compassion, protection and healing to the unborn.
All services from prenatal care for a mother with a complicated pregnancy, to delivery, to providing care for fetal abnormalities are provided on the St. Joseph’s campus. There is no need to transfer to another facility. The FCC at St. Joseph’s was founded to treat women experiencing a high-risk pregnancy and/or carrying a fetus with serious or life-threatening problems. Pregnant women come to the FCC for prenatal care, diagnostic studies, genetic counseling, antepartum testing, targeted ultrasounds and in-utero fetal surgery when a fetal abnormality is suspected or diagnosed.
Care for Congenital Anomalies
The Fetal Care Center provides medical and surgical care for the full range of fetal abnormailities as well as a full array of diagnostic and interventional procedures. FCC’s physicians are board certified in Maternal-Fetal Medicine as well as genetics. Comprehensive family-centered care, counseling and emotional support are integral components of our program. We are here to meet whatever needs you or your family may have.
When a fetus is diagnosed with a heart problem, our patients are cared for by an interdisciplinary team at the Eller Congenital Heart Center. This integrated team of devoted perinatologists and pediatric cardiologists cares for the baby in utero, after delivery and into childhood, adolescence and adulthood.
When a fetus is diagnosed with a neurological disorder such as a neural tube defect, hydrocephalus, spina bifida, craniofacial disorders and other congenital abnormalities that affect the central nervous system, we have specialists on hand at the Barrow Pediatric Neurosciences Center who can consult with the family in advance of the birth to plan for surgery and further treatment when the baby is born.
Pediatric surgeons care for the tiniest of patients day in and day out. They are specially trained to not only perform surgeries on fetuses and newborns, and on children ranging from infancy through adolescence, but they are also very aware of the other intricacies of children’s health beyond surgery.
The surgical suites at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center have the complete capacity to surgically manage any complication a newborn may have. The Valley is home to an array of pediatric specialists and subspecialists who come to St. Joseph’s to perform surgeries. They choose St. Joseph’s for our technologies, our medical staff and our dedication to the advancement of pediatric care.
Craniofacial Center
Barrow Neurological Institute of St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center is an internationally renowned neurological center that offers unparalleled care for individuals with craniofacial disorders. Barrow's unique expertise in treating children with craniofacial disorders is based on more than 20 years of experience in treating a vast array of simple and complex craniofacial conditions.
The Barrow Craniofacial Center offers an interdisciplinary team, providing comprehensive evaluation, diagnostic testing and treatment for adult and pediatric patients with craniofacial disorders. These conditions include:
- Cleft lip and/or cleft palate
- Craniosynostoses (premature closure of the sutures of the skull)
- Rare craniofacial disorders
- Traumatic injuries of the head and face
- Various benign and malignant tumors
Management of these disorders depends on the nature of the abnormality. The medical team can include cranial facial plastic surgeons, geneticists, orthodontists, otolayngologists, oral maxillofacial surgeon, oculoplastic surgeon, and speech pathologists.
Surgical intervention may require skull and facial reconstruction, and may be staged throughout the child's growing years. Medical management helps ensure that the child is prepared as much as possible before and after surgery. The Center provides a comprehensive review of medical records, radiographic tests and other diagnostic examinations, after which a treatment plan is fashioned to meet the specific needs of each patient. The team is dedicated to continuity of care throughout the course of treatment, including discharge planning and correspondence with other physicians involved in the patient’s care.
The Barrow Craniofacial Center welcomes patients from out of state or out of the country. For more information, call Anna Tessman, RN, Program Coordinator of the Barrow Craniofacial Center, at 602-406-3223.
In-Utero Fetal Surgery
Some conditions require treatment while a baby is still in the mother’s womb. In-utero fetal surgeries are performed when fetal and placental conditions may result in severe complications or in long-term, irreversible harm to the baby. In such cases, the St. Joseph’s Fetal Care Center's team of Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialists is equipped and trained to treat both baby and mother for the best possible outcome.
Prenatal Diagnosis/Genetics
If a woman is 35 or older, or if a member of the parents’ immediate family suffers from a genetic disorder, she is at risk of bearing a child with genes associated with mental retardation or physical deterioration. In such cases, we will perform genetic testing of the fetus, called Prenatal Diagnosis.
The Antenatal Testing Center at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center is home to the latest in medical technologies available. It offers a full spectrum of antenatal testing devices and specialists to provide parents and providers with an accurate view of how the pregnancy is progressing, and a preview of complications that may arise, allowing the care team to develop a plan before the baby’s arrival.
When a neurogenetic disorder is diagnosed, our multidisciplinary team of specialists at the Pediatric Neurogenetics Center steps in for further consultation and treatment.
The Children's Health Center (CHC) at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center established the Pediatric Neurogenetics Center to provide multidisciplinary diagnostic consultation services for children with complex neurogenetic disorders. It is the only center for pediatric neurogenetics in Arizona combining the skills of clinical neurology, genetics, metabolism, and biochemistry to evaluate patients. The Center enhances the already excellent patient care services offered at the CHC and Barrow Neurological Institute.
Women's Services | Antenatal Testing | Childbirth and Newborn Care | Maternal Fetal | Meet the Team | Midwifery | MOMobile | New Moms & Dads | Pelvic Pain | Reproductive Medicine | Research | Specialty Services
The center offers services for children with the following complex neurogenetic disorders:
- Neurodegenerative disorders
- Familial neurological disorders (including X-linked mental retardation syndromes)
- Mitochondrial disorders (both biochemical and clinical syndromes)
- Cytogenic abnormalities
Specialized Medical Care in Pregnancy
Pregnancies that would otherwise be considered normal or low risk can be elevated to a high-risk level when the mother is affected by such illnesses as high blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid disease or other endocrine disorders, kidney diseases, gastrointestinal diseases, epilepsy, heart disease, infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis and blood diseases such as clotting or anemia. Our multi-disciplinary team will work together with a mother’s primary care physician to ensure that her pregnancy goes a smoothly as possible. With a breadth and depth of specialists and sub-specialists on hand at St. Joseph’s, the health of both mother and baby is in excellent hands.
Contact Us
To find out more about the team of excellent providers at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, visit the Meet the Team page to view a list of physicians and their educational and professional biographical information. To schedule an appointment or with any further questions, please call us at 602-406-3715.
