Counseling and testing to help your baby have the healthiest start in life
The Perinatal Testing Centers of Main Line Health provide pregnancy testing to both low- and high-risk pregnant patients. Our family-centered approach to maternity is exhibited in the testing units through the expert perinatal staff who are available to help you and your family obtain accurate information about your developing baby (babies) and allow you to get the finest care possible—from conception, all the way through delivery.
Services provided at our perinatal testing centers
- Perinatal and genetic consultation – Patients receive an evaluation by a perinatologist (a maternal-fetal medicine specialist), who assesses risk in pregnancy and helps you plan for a current or future pregnancy.
- Ultrasound – Ultrasound is a noninvasive test that uses sound waves to visualize the fetus in-utero. This simple procedure can be used to help confirm gestational age, monitor growth, identify congenital abnormalities and evaluate the well-being of the fetus.
- Early anatomy – As part of either the sequential screen or NIPT (see below) early anatomy has become a way for patients to gain early reassurance about the development of their baby late in the first or early in the second trimester of pregnancy.
- Sequential screening – Sequential screening utilizes both ultrasound findings and maternal hormone levels to determine if a woman is at increased risk for having a baby with Down syndrome (trisomy 21) or trisomy 18.
- NIPT – An alternative test to sequential screening, this is a blood test that looks for chromosomes from the placenta in maternal blood to gain chromosome reassurance.
- Doppler flow studies – A Doppler flow study uses ultrasound to evaluate the blood flow to the placenta from the fetus and the mother. This is usually done in conjunction with a complete ultrasound study of the fetus.
- Tests for fetal well-being – Non-stress testing evaluates how well the placenta is providing oxygen to the fetus as well as risk of stillbirth. The information obtained helps determine or predict the well-being of the fetus. A biophysical profile is an ultrasonic test of well-being that may be done in conjunction or as an alternative to a non-stress test.
- Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) – CVS is performed early in a pregnancy by sampling tissue from what will become the placenta. This tissue is evaluated for possible genetic or chromosomal abnormalities and can provide reassurance to parents.
- Amniocentesis – Amniocentesis is used to obtain amniotic fluid for genetic evaluation and information about fetal development.
