High Risk Pregnancy

Pregnancy and childbirth can be exciting, but for some women, it’s difficult to become pregnant or to sustain a healthy pregnancy. Others have post-partum issues to contend with. In an effort to help these women and their babies, Northwestern Memorial Hospital offers programs for women who are at high risk for pregnancy or birth complications. We also offer the highest level of neonatal intensive care for seriously ill newborns, and we offer a program in women’s health rehabilitation to help women who have lost pelvic floor strength or function or who suffer low-back pain or joint issues as a result of pregnancy or birth. Below is a list of the pregnancy-related programs available through Northwestern Memorial.

Heart Disease and Pregnancy Program
For 20 years, physicians at The Heart Disease and Pregnancy Program of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Memorial have been managing all forms of heart disease during pregnancy. The program works with women who have heart disease and want to have children, as well as with pregnant women who are diagnosed with heart disease during their pregnancies.

For more information about our program, contact the Center for Women’s Cardiovascular Health at 866-662-8467.

Healthy for You, Healthy for Two
Overweight pregnant women are at risk for complications, as are their babies, both during and after pregnancy. Northwestern Memorial has piloted a program for overweight pregnant women or women who are at risk for weight-related pregnancy complications.

Women in the Healthy for You, Healthy for Two program will receive personalized medical nutrition therapy, activity/exercise management, lifestyle coaching and time at group sessions to discuss behavior modification.

Please call 312-695-2300 for more information.

Fertility Preservation Program
Cancer and other diseases and their treatments often have an irreversible effect on fertility. When a woman, man or teenage girl or boy is diagnosed with cancer and other diseases that can threaten fertility, there is only a brief window of time to learn about options for preserving fertility before treatment. Oncofertility -- the intersection of oncology and reproductive medicine -- is a new, rapidly advancing field that strives to preserve fertility in cancer patients.

Northwestern University, in partnership with The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University and physicians at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, developed a comprehensive Fertility Preservation Program that offers patients hope of having their own children one day.

This program is also the home base for the national Oncofertility Consortium that helps preserve fertility in patients across the country.

Patients in the program will work with a patient navigator who will coordinate care with physicians and reproductive specialists to help explore the issues and understand available options.

The Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center is one of five institutions within the U.S. that has been designated a Center of Excellence in fertility preservation by The Fertile Hope Organization.

For more information about Fertility Preservation and Oncofertility, visit myoncofertility.org.

To schedule a consultation with the program, please call 866-708-3378 (FERT) or e-mail oncofertilty@northwestern.edu.

Maternal-Fetal Medicine
The maternal-fetal medicine program at Northwestern Memorial specializes in managing high-risk pregnancies by offering screening, monitoring and treatment services for women with special medical or obstetrical conditions who also are or wish to become pregnant. We also work with women who have had prior preterm labor, pregnancy loss or stillbirth.

To schedule an appointment with one of our maternal-fetal medicine physicians for the first time, call 877-926-4664 or request a first time appointment online.

Neonatal Intensive Care We know having a seriously ill baby is extremely scary and stressful. And we understand that all parents want immediate access to the best, most specialized care available. The Renée Schine Crown Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Northwestern Memorial is a secured level III care unit, which is the highest possible level designation. We provide care for premature and seriously ill newborns with services and equipment designed for our smallest patients.

For more information about our NICU, call 312-926-8400.

Women’s Health Rehabilitation
Some women experience pain with ordinary activities and loss of strength and function of their pelvic floor muscles during and after pregnancy, which can cause many problems, including incontinence, and can interfere with everyday life. In fact, recent studies have shown that one in three women experience pelvic floor dysfunction during their lives.

Northwestern Memorial partners with The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) to offer a women’s health rehabilitation program that provides treatment to restore optimal function of the pelvic floor muscles, pelvic joints and lower back. Rehabilitation can help relieve pain with intercourse and other normal activities, eliminate incontinence and restore optimal function to muscles and joints, enabling wide-ranging physical improvements.

For more information, call 1-800-354-REHAB (7342). or visit the RIC Web site at www.ric.org.