Prenatal Planning: Do You Need Antenatal Testing?

Alfred N. Khoury, MD, is a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at The Antenatal Testing Center at Inova Women’s Hospital and Inova Loudoun Hospital Antenatal Testing Center. He is board-certified in maternal-fetal medicine and obstetrics and gynecology.

Pregnancy is an exciting and often nerve-wracking time. But if there are concerns or complications, the The Antenatal Testing Center at Inova Women’s Hospital can help.

Located on the Inova Fairfax Medial Campus, our center provides specialized care for mothers and developing babies at risk of complications. Our maternal-fetal medicine specialists work closely with prospective parents, pregnant women and their obstetricians to help prepare for, monitor and manage high-risk pregnancies.

We support patients in a number of ways:

• Planning for Pregnancy. Our experts meet with prospective parents before pregnancy to discuss any of their concerns. This is especially helpful for women with preexisting medical conditions, such as diabetes or lupus, that could put them at risk for pregnancy complications. We can help you understand the risks and improve your health before you conceive.
• Genetic Counseling. We provide genetic counseling to test for many inherited disorders. A genetic counselor can explain the testing options and what results mean for you and your unborn child. If a certain disease runs in families, for instance, we can test prospective parents before pregnancy to see if they carry gene variations that are associated with that disease. We can also perform tests during pregnancy to diagnose genetic disorders in the developing fetus.
• Screening and Monitoring. Our imaging experts provide screening tests such as ultrasounds to diagnose defects and monitor the development of the unborn baby.
• Fetal Treatment. In some cases, we can treat problems before the baby is born. For example, if a fetus’s bladder isn’t draining normally, we can insert a catheter into the fetal bladder while the fetus is still inside the uterus to prevent damage to the kidneys.

Plan and Prepare

When we discover a health concern in a developing baby, we work closely with the Inova Children’s Hospital Fetal Care Center, which provides a coordinated delivery plan for pregnant women whose developing baby may require specialized pediatric care after birth.

Sometimes, antenatal testing uncovers problems we might not be able to resolve. By providing information about what to expect, we help families prepare for all possible outcomes.

In many cases, however, antenatal testing spots problems we can do something about. Having that knowledge helps us plan for any specialized care the baby might need. If we discover a heart defect, for instance, families can meet with heart surgeons and cardiologists before the baby arrives to understand the extent of the problem, discuss the prognosis and develop a care plan.

As the first and largest antenatal testing center in northern Virginia, we have nearly three decades of experience working with prospective parents, pregnant women and their unborn babies. Our expert team offers compassionate care as we work toward the goal of healthy pregnancies and healthy babies.

Learn more about the Antenatal Testing Center near you:

The Antenatal Testing Center at Inova Women’s Hospital
Inova Fairfax Medical Campus
703-776-6654

Inova Loudoun Hospital Antenatal Testing Center
Inova Loudoun Medical Campus
703-858-TEST (8378)

Inova Brock Family Antenatal Testing Center
Inova Alexandria Medical Campus
703-504-7868