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Who's looking for the high-risk fetus in the low-risk mother?

Subspecialty Trainee in Maternal and Fetal Medicine, Royal Jubilee Maternity Service, Grosvenor Road, Belfast, BT12 6BB, UK. email: dan.mckenna{at}virgin.net (corresponding author)

James Dornan, MD FRCPI FRCOG

Professor and Director of Fetal Medicine, Royal Jubilee Maternity Service, Belfast, UK.

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines on routine antenatal care for the healthy pregnant woman acknowledge that low-risk mothers almost invariably give birth in a straightforward manner to low-risk babies. They do not, however, address the difficulties of identifying the high-risk fetus in the low-risk mother. Of the 4000 annual `unexplained' stillbirths in the UK, 1000 are below the tenth centile for birthweight. We believe that ultrasound assessment of fetal wellbeing and growth should be part of the routine examination of the fetus.

Keywords Keywords / antenatal care / ultrasound scanning / high-risk fetus / intrauterine growth restriction