Healthy Colorado: Colorado Springs clinic holds certification in fetal echocardiography
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - There's a fetal medicine location in Colorado Springs that is helping expecting mothers with a special ultrasound.
Southern Colorado Maternal Fetal Medicine is the first and only practice in the state to hold certification in fetal echocardiography. This means, their doctors utilize the latest ultrasound technology to identify fetal abnormalities and prenatal cardiac conditions.
"The eco cardiogram is an ultrasound that we do that looks a the baby's heart in detail," says Dr. Christy Pearce, Maternal and Fetal Medicine. "We offer screening fetal echocardiogram where we take a detailed look at the baby's heart and the structure, function, and flow of blood through the vessels going into and out of the heart."
A fetal echocardiogram is a detailed ultrasound performed of the baby's heart before the baby is born. The ultrasound waves bounce off the baby's organs, including the heart, and are sent back to the camera which then creates a moving picture of the different parts of the heart for the doctor to evaluate. Doctors can see heart defects as early as the first trimester.
Screening fetal echos typically happens at 22-24 weeks because they want the heart to get a little bit bigger. Dr. Pearce says depending on family history some expecting women should consider getting this ultrasound.
"A mom with diabetes or Lupus or if you think the baby has a genetic abnormality or know if they have a genetic abnormality," says Dr. Pearce. "If there is a close relative to the baby like a first-degree relative to the baby that has a heart defect."
Congenital heart disease is a problem that occurs with the baby's heart while the baby is still developing. It's seen in approximately 1% of babies born in the United States and is the most common form of birth defect, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
