4 specialty services that meet women’s comprehensive care needs

When your female patients need specialty care, you want to connect them with teams of experts that take a holistic approach to supporting patient health — and who make easy access to specialty care a priority.

At Novant Health, a comprehensive care approach to women’s health supports the patient’s medical needs as well as their lifestyle. “We believe that listening to the patient and understanding their concerns is important in developing a collaborative plan for the patient, their baby if applicable, their physician and their specialty team to achieve the best possible outcomes,” said Kai Chen, MD, maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Novant Health Maternal-Fetal Medicine. “It’s not just about treating the condition itself.”

That’s why Novant Health has built a system of comprehensive care services, with specialties from pelvic health and high-risk pregnancy to neonatal intensive care. Novant Health’s seamless connection between specialties makes it simple for referring providers to know their patients will receive a continuum of advanced care.

Novant Health partners with you to provide your patients four key specialty services.

Urogynecology

Novant Health urogynecologists focus on pelvic floor disorders in patients.

“We’re a team that can work in conjunction with referring providers,” said Elizabeth Braxton, MD, urogynecology specialist at Novant Health Pelvic Health Center. “We regularly collaborate with general gynecologists and primary care providers to address common issues like urinary leakage, incontinence or overactive bladder, prolapse and other pelvic floor disorders like fistulas. These are issues that can have a significant impact on our patients’ quality of life — they can worsen and inhibit a patient’s ability to do what they love to do.”

Physicians are implementing innovative technology to treat certain urogynecological conditions with surgical methods as well as nonsurgical methods.

“Significant improvements are coming out with technology,” Dr. Braxton said. “We can do sacral neuromodulation, which is essentially a pacemaker for the bladder or the bowels. We can do Botox injections to the bladder to help with overactive bladder symptoms. We also can use Bulkamid, a urethral agent that treats stress urinary incontinence with a less-invasive approach than surgery.”

"We serve patients in more than 20 counties, so women of all ages and stages of life can easily access the right care."

High-risk pregnancy

Maternal-fetal medicine physicians treat the entire timeline of a high-risk patient: Before and during pregnancy and preparation for future pregnancy. “There are different types of situations for moms to be considered high-risk, because we’re treating multiple patients, mother and baby (or babies),” Dr. Chen said. “A mother might have a preexisting medical condition before pregnancy, including obesity, chronic hypertension, diabetes, lupus or advanced maternal age.

“For a woman who has a comorbidity before pregnancy, it’s better to have a preconception consult so we can evaluate the patient and determine a plan before they conceive. Some conditions can be stabilized, or we can adjust medication to support a pregnancy to decrease risk for both mother and baby. Before, during and after a pregnancy, we come up with a collaborative plan with the patient's OB to manager mother and baby accordingly.”

Genetic counseling

Genetic counseling is significant for patients in terms of understanding risk. “It’s important for patients to understand that everyone has a chance to carry a baby with a genetic condition, like Down syndrome,” said Dr. Chen. “Even if they don’t have family history. Counseling can provide them information to consider their plan for pregnancy, to understand the situation or to prepare them for the possible outcome.”

Neonatal intensive care

When a newborn requires neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) support, communication with the mother and family is critical. “The two most common reasons for admission to the NICU are respiratory distress and prematurity,” said Lewis Lipscomb, MD, an ob-gyn at Novant Health Triad OB/GYN. “In those situations, babies can be closely monitored

and supported in the NICU. “Whenever a NICU admission or neonatal evaluation is anticipated, the care team meets with the mom and family prior to delivery to discuss the plan of care and answer questions. In the event of an

emergency this may not be possible, but our team does a great job of communicating with parents about their little one,” said Dr. Lipscomb.

Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center’s level 3 NICU is prepared to deliver the most advanced care to neonates with the exception of surgery. “All of our tertiary care facilities offer the most advanced care available to the smallest of patients,” Dr. Lipscomb said. “We are now able to resuscitate and care for neonates as early as 22 weeks gestation. Just a few years ago, this was thought to be impossible.”