Maternal-Fetal Medicine Division

The Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta has strong clinical research collaborations with several other clinical departments in the faculty. These include the departments of Pediatrics, Radiology & Diagnostic Imaging, and Laboratory Medicine & Pathology.

 

The MFM Division has also been involved in several Canadian multicentre trials over the years, both as a participating centre and more recently as a lead centre. There have been several areas of clinical research focus  including:  prenatal diagnosis, pregnancy management, and pregnancy/neonatal/infant outcomes.

 

For more information about this division's research activities, please visit this page in the research section of this website.

 

The MFM Division consists of five full-time members of the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry:

 Through the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Centre,  they provide tertiary consultation services for northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories, as well as western Saskatchewan and northeastern British Columbia.

 

These services include (but are not necessarily limited to) preconception counselling, prenatal screening, fetal diagnosis and therapies, as well as consultation and management for at-risk and complicated pregnancies.

 

The centre is located in the new Lois Hole Hospital for Women at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton. During the 2009 fiscal year, the MFM Centre had 22,251 total patient encounters, including inpatients and outpatients.

 

As with clinical research initiatives, the MFM Division has had equal success with clinical collaboration. This involves a multidisciplinary team approach to comprehensive counselling, diagnosis and management for patients and families, where prenatal diagnosis has identified fetal abnormalities requiring prenatal surveillance and specialized prenatal and postnatal management.

 

This collaborative approach – involving obstetrics & gynecology at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and pediatric subspecialty programs based at the Stollery Children’s Hospital on the U of A campus – has developed since 2004 and continues to grow as new technologies and treatment options develop.

 

In 2008, the Stollery-based Fetal Cardiology Program relocated to the Royal Alexandra Hospital site to be in close proximity to the MFM Program. The move facilitated patient assessment and team consultation, diagnoses, management and research. This collaborative program has become a Western Canadian referral centre for complex fetal cardiac diseases.

 

Current plans are now also underway with our colleagues in obstetric medicine and adult cardiology  to develop a centre of excellence in maternal heart health. It will be located at the Lois Hole Hospital for Women and the CK Hui Heart Centre for Cardiac Services. Both of these facilities are located in the Robbins Pavilion at the Royal Alexandra Hospital site.

 

Another collaborative success in the clinical program includes the First Trimester Screening Program. This program was established in 2008. It involves the MFM Division, Radiology & Diagnostic Imaging, Clinical Laboratory and Medical Genetics in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry; and the Alberta Health Services (AHS) Women’s Health Program. On-site genetic counsellors have now joined the MFM Centre. They offer genetic counselling services for all aspects of prenatal screening and diagnosis.

 

Another clinical initiative, led by the MFM Division in 2007, was the incorporation of fetal fibronectin testing in the management of preterm labour. This involved all four main Edmonton hospital sites, including: the Royal Alexandra, Grey Nuns, Misericordia and the Sturgeon.

 

Expanding clinical services and establishing new initiatives to advance clinical care have been made possible with the ongoing support of the Royal Alexandra Hospital and Alberta Health Services.

Educational Contributions

The clinical MFM Division and the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Centre are involved in the undergraduate and postgraduate education of learners from the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, and the faculty’s residency training programs for obstetrics & gynecology, NICU  and diagnostic imaging. The MFM Division is also involved in training sonography students from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. Additionally, the clinical division welcomes elective students and residents from other medical school programs across Canada, whenever feasible.

 

All five of the current clinical GFT (full-time) academic faculty members  have been and continue to be heavily involved in various administrative educational roles over the past 15 years.

 

These roles have included undergraduate education co-ordinator, course co-ordinator for the reproduction block, PGY1 residency co-ordinator, and residency training program director for obstetrics & gynecology. The division has also actively participated with the residency program directors and committees of other specialties, including diagnostic imaging and NICU.

 

An additional and significant educational initiative includes weekly Perinatal Rounds on Tuesday mornings. These provide an opportunity for health centres in Edmonton and across Alberta and Saskatchewan to access educational reviews and updates via telehealth technologies. This initiative was started in 2005.