What Is A Perinatologist & When You Should See A Perinatologist
You might discover a pregnant lady with diabetes, a 40-year-old woman with hypertension, and another whose family has a history of a genetic anomaly in the waiting room of a perinatologist’s office.
A perinatologist, often known as a maternal/fetal physician, is a doctor who specializes in pregnancy issues.
If you want to make a difference as a doctor, becoming a perinatologist allows you to do it for not just one person, but a woman and her baby, even before the baby is born.
What exactly is a perinatologist?
Doctors that specialize in high-risk pregnancies are known as perinatologists. They work with women and babies to ensure they are safe before, during, and after birth.
High-risk pregnancies aren’t usually more risky or complex than low-risk pregnancies. The word usually refers to pre-existing conditions or those that arise during pregnancy.
Perinatologists are doctors who specialize in maternal-fetal medicine. They can work in clinics, hospitals, or private practice. Your obstetrician will most likely send you to a perinatologist if you have a high-risk pregnancy.
What Do Perinatologists Do?
Perinatologists are doctors that specialize in obstetrics and gynecology. In comparison to a gynecologist or an obstetrician, they perform more advanced testing and monitoring.
For example, this could involve the following:
- Highly detailed ultrasounds
- Congenital disabilities tests
- Blood tests for foetuses.
- Perinatologists can provide more accurate and extensive information about your pregnancy and how pre-existing conditions may affect it.
- They also care for new mothers after giving birth if there is a problem during delivery, such as an infection or excessive bleeding.
Perinatologists are needed for a variety of reasons.
Your gynecologist or obstetrician will generally recommend you to a perinatologist if you require one.
Among the most common explanations are:
- Being 35 years old or older
- Overweight or underweight
- Having one or more children
- Abnormal screening results
- Pre-existing ailments
- Blood pressure being too high
- Pregnancy-related injury
- Getting into labor too soon
How to become a perinatologist?
To become a perinatologist, you’d go through the same training as other doctors. Your bachelor’s degree can be in any discipline, but you’ll need to take many science and maths classes to prepare for medical school.
In addition, take English and communications lessons to communicate with patients, colleagues, professors, and medical school admissions officers in writing and in person.
After that, you’ll spend four years in medical school learning about human anatomy, psychology, and medical ethics while also taking scientific classes and labs.
The first two years are primarily spent in a classroom setting. The last two years of your education will be spent working with patients in clinics and hospitals under the supervision of qualified physicians.
You’ll try out a variety of expertise to see where your passions lie. For example, if you believe you’d like to pursue obstetrics, you’ll pursue fellowships in perinatology, where you’ll study more about maternal and foetal medicine.
Perinatology fellowships typically last three years. Before practicing medicine, all states require physicians to be licensed.
There are a variety of requirements, but they all entail a lengthy licensure exam.
About The Author:
Ompal Singh is a freelance writer, business enthusiast, a bit of a tech buff, and an overall geek. He is also an avid reader, who can while away hours reading and knowing about the latest gadgets and tech, whilst offering views and opinions on these topics.
