The PSG Fetal Care Centre was started in February 2018. The Centre offers state of the art services in fetal monitoring and evaluation of fetal well being. The centre is headed by Dr.N.Lalitha ( MD., MRCOG), a fetal medicine specialist, who completed her fetal medicine fellowship in National University Hospital, Singapore and is certified by the Fetal Medicine foundation, UK(FMF) for Nuchal translucency, preeclampsia screening and fetal abnormality scans. The unit receives patients from the obstetrics department in PSG and referred patients from hospitals in and around Coimbatore. The Unit is equipped with a high-resolution Ultrasound machine with 3D and 4D imaging.

The services available at the centre are

• First trimester anomaly scans and Nuchal translucency
• Second trimester anomaly scans
• Growth scan
• Screening for Down syndrome- first and second trimester
• Genetic counselling
• Invasive diagnostic procedures-amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling
• Fetal reduction
• Pelvic scans to assess uterine anomalies, R/O endometrial pathology
• Saline sonohysterogram

The Unit receives pregnant women with high risk pregnancies, previous pregnancies with anomalous foetuses, family history of metabolic conditions, inborn errors of metabolism etc. The unit also offers preconceptional counselling, pre test and post test counseling and referral to appropriate specialist clinics for multidisciplinary management.

The concerns of the parents are dealt with sensitivity and patience at the unit. The parents are counselled about the scientific principles underlying each clinical situation and helped to analyse any problems in consultation with medical specialists in each field

Ongoing projects:

• Screening first trimester fetal echocardiography- a feasibility study
• Ratio of nasal bone to prefrontal thickness in the evaluation of second trimester foetuses

Upcoming projects:

• First-trimester screening protocols for preeclampsia in low risk antenatal women based in low resource settings
• Analysis of cost-effectiveness of different screening strategies for Down syndrome