The UNC Collaborative for Maternal and Infant Health provides special, personalized care for families with pregnancies complicated due to fetal anomalies and babies with serious medical problems. Our doctors have the knowledge, skills, and compassion to provide you and your baby with the best care possible. Your team also includes Maternal-Fetal Medicine and pediatric specialty providers, OB nurses, genetic counselors, social workers and chaplains. We discuss the fetal diagnosis and treatment plan of all new patients in our weekly multi-disciplinary care conference. This plan is share with the family and their primary doctor.
A CMIH perinatal care coordinator assists families from diagnosis to discharge to 1) help understand the baby’s condition and treatment plan; 2) facilitate access to specialized OB care; and 3) understand the medical treatment offered by our team of pediatric specialists at UNC Children’s Hospital.
Care coordinators:
- Helps families understand their baby’s medical condition and treatment plan.
- Helps answers families’ many questions and concerns.
- Coordinates appointments and prenatal consults with the doctors involved in the care of pregnant women and their developing baby.
- Provides tours of Labor & Delivery and the (newborn intensive care) nursery.
- Ensures that referring doctors are informed and can participate in care.
- Connects families with community resources.
- Supports families throughout the pregnancy and during the transition to parenthood with an infant with special medical needs.
If you think you need perinatal care coordination services, please talk with your health care provider. The Collaborative accepts referrals through the UNC Ultrasound Department as well as through the Newborn Critical Care Center or other pediatric specialists.
Every Monday afternoon at 4:15pm, the Collaborative for Maternal and Infant Health’s partners come together to develop (and sometimes revise) treatment plans for new patients, report the health status of patients following a birth, and review their status upon discharge. The team also uses this time for continuing their education as they discuss best practice in perinatal health. Specialists also share information about new medical procedures and treatments, set new protocols when needed, discuss ethical issues if they arise, and learn from each other across disciplines. The development of a single, unified plan for a patient and family is a unique service that is available to patients who are part of the Collaborative for Maternal and Infant Health.
