Why Is It Necessary to Create a Cardio-Obstetrics Team?

Some women may have suffered with cardiovascular problems since birth while others don’t find out until pregnancy unmasks the condition. Merging physicians from cardiology and obstetrics can help improve patient outcomes through pregnancy and afterwards.

Doreen DeFaria Yeh, MD, associate director of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program sat on a panel of specialists to discuss merging cardiovascular and maternal fetal medicine at the 66^th Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology (ACC 2017) in Washington, District of Columbia.

“The goal of creating a team of doctors who have a dedicated mission in terms of providing exceptionally high-quality care and improving outcomes is really so that we can identify women who might be at risk for cardiac complications during their pregnancy, monitor them closely, anticipate the problems that could come up, and really try to optimize their outcomes with not only delivery but with their cardiac health now and later,” explained Yeh, who is also co-director of MGH Cardiovascular Disease and Pregnancy Service and subspecialty education coordinator of Cardiology at MGH.

>>> More Coverage from ACC 2017