Certain health conditions, lifestyle factors, and maternal age can sometimes make a pregnancy more complicated or high-risk. Maternal-fetal medicine specialists (also known as perinatologists) are obstetricians with additional fellowship training in treating high-risk pregnancies who can closely monitor the condition of mother and baby throughout the pregnancy to prevent risks along the journey.

Services & Specialties

Services & Specialties

When managing a high-risk pregnancy, it’s important to receive early prenatal care and routine monitoring from a maternal-fetal medicine expert. This includes early diagnosis and treatment of high-risk pregnancy complications. Our team offers prenatal genetic testing, advanced maternal and fetal imaging, and other cutting-edge diagnostic tools to get to the bottom of your condition.

We treat a range of conditions, including:

Our Approach to Care

Our Approach to Care

If you have a co-existing medical condition, you may also receive high-risk pregnancy care from renowned adult specialists at NewYork-Presbyterian such as cardiologists and cardiac surgeons, neurologists and neurosurgeons, gastroenterologists, endocrinologists, oncologists, urologists, immunologists, and others.

These specialists are all within the same medical center, and we can help you access them immediately before, during, and after childbirth should you or your baby need them. Seamless access to this breadth of specialists is invaluable when expedient treatment can optimize the health of you and your baby.

State-of-the-art facilities

Our patients benefit from state-of-the-art facilities and the most advanced monitoring tools, including ultrasound, fetal echocardiography, Doppler ultrasound, fetal MRI, and genetic sonography to assess the developing fetus; first-trimester screening for Down syndrome, multiple pregnancies, and congenital anomalies; and prenatal diagnosis using amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling (CVS), and fetal blood sampling (cordocentesis).

Specialty programs for mother and baby

We have a wide range of campus-specific specialty programs dedicated to treating high-risk pregnancies:

  • The Mothers Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center is working to make pregnancy safe for every mother and child. A first-of-its-kind space, Our maternal-fetal medicine experts are dedicated to providing coordinated care to pregnant women with complex complications, including placenta accreta spectrum, diabetes, heart disease, congenital heart disease, neurologic disease, cancer, or a history of transplant.
  • The High-Risk Pregnancy Program within the robust Maternal-Fetal Medicine Division at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center follows patients from preconception through the pregnancy journey, in either consultation or for overall prenatal care, and continues through their postpartum period and beyond.
  • The Carmen and John Thain Center for Prenatal Pediatrics at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center is dedicated to helping pregnant women and their families after a significant congenital disability or genetic condition have been detected. We believe that caring for babies with abnormalities starts before birth and continues into childhood with neonatal and long-term pediatric follow-up.
  • The Fetal Care Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center is an internationally recognized facility for fetal diagnosis, counseling, and care. The Fetal Care Center employs a multidisciplinary approach to pregnancies complicated with fetal anomalies or other special neonatal needs. An individualized team approach, including maternal-fetal medicine, neonatology, pediatric specialists, and geneticists, is used to work with each family to receive the best care possible.

Why Choose Us

Why Choose Us

Our Columbia and Weill Cornell Medicine maternal-fetal medicine teams are headed by academic leaders who have advanced knowledge in pregnancy complications. These experts collaborate with colleagues in multiple disciplines, including neonatology, pediatrics, cardiology, anesthesiology, and surgery, to provide care tailored to your individualized needs.

Our Team

Our Team

NewYork-Presbyterian's maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) team offers advanced care to treat high-risk pregnancies using a collaborative and multifaceted care approach. Nationally recognized for its MFM specialists and state-of-the-art facilities, NewYork-Presbyterian provides comprehensive resources to meet your personal health needs throughout your pregnancy and post-pregnancy journey. In addition to offering the latest diagnostic tools and innovative therapies, NewYork-Presbyterian's MFM team provides highly personalized and compassionate care for you and your baby.

Lynn L. Simpson, MD
Lynn L. Simpson, MD

Chief of Maternal-Fetal Medicine

NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Heather Lipkind
Heather Lipkind, MD

Director of Maternal-Fetal Medicine

NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center

NewYork-Presbyterian provides the best in maternal care for mothers at all stages of building a family.

Our experts in high-risk pregnancy and maternal fetal medicine care for pregnant mothers, even those facing rare and complex conditions, so that they can Stay Amazing for themselves and their babies. Learn more.