Tri-City Medical Center Adds Perinatal Services

North County mothers with high-risk pregnancies can now get all their perinatal medical needs met in their own community. Tri-City Medical Center announces an agreement with the San Diego Perinatal Center to bring perinatal services to the medical center.

Tri-City Medical Center has the only Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in North County, so the addition of perinatal services provides the full continuum of medical services for patients with high-risk pregnancies.

One in ten births is considered high risk, so perinatal medicine is vital for the community to improve the pregnancy outcome for mothers and newborns. Perinatal medicine includes maternal-fetal testing required for diagnosing congenital abnormalities as well as caring for women with multiple gestations (twins, triplets, or more). Perinatal medicine also addresses obstetric complications of previous pregnancies (preterm labor or repetitive miscarriage) or current pregnancies which can include health issues like asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, gestational diabetes or preeclampsia and carrying babies with birth defects. It can also be required in pregnancies where the mother is over 35.

“With the combination of these new perinatal services and our Level III NICU, most North County mothers can get the full-spectrum perinatal care they need without having to drive long distances into San Diego,” said Sharon Davies, Director of Mother and Infant Services at Tri-City Medical Center. “We are thrilled to partner with the San Diego Perinatal Center to be the first in North County to offer this full spectrum of perinatal support.”

In addition to four years of residency training in obstetrics and gynecology, San Diego Perinatal Center’s seven physicians have completed fellowship programs in maternal-fetal medicine. These physicians are a part of Rady Children’s Specialists of San Diego, and collaborate with obstetricians, leading pediatric cardiologists, neonatologists and other specialists to give North County mothers and newborns the best possible care.

For more information visit www.tricitymed.org or call 760-940-3000. Information about the Perinatal Center is available at www.sandiegoperinatal.com.