Prenatal Cardiology Program

Prenatal Cardiology Program at Children’s National Hospital: Why Choose Us

In our Prenatal Cardiology Program, we treat the unborn child as a separate and individual patient. Features of our care include:

• Collaboration: We coordinate care for the unborn child across many different specialists, including maternal prenatal medicine physicians and obstetricians with subspecialties in cardiology, cardiac surgery, genetics and radiology.
• Supporting prenatal development: While our specialty is the prenatal heart, our goal is a healthy child. We monitor brain function and other aspects of prenatal development to ensure the best possible outcomes for the child after birth. Learn more about our Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Program.
• Early detection: Through innovations such as fetal echocardiography and fetal magnetic resonance imaging, we can detect heart abnormalities as early as 12 weeks gestation. Early detection allows us to plan any necessary interventions as soon as possible. Learn more about cardiac imaging.
• Care for the whole family: Expectant mothers whose babies have been diagnosed with a heart condition may experience sadness and anxiety. These feelings can affect a mother's family as well as her pregnancy. Our team works with the entire family to provide emotional support to mothers and loved ones during this time.  

Prenatal Cardiology Team at Children’s National

It takes a big team to care for a tiny heart. Our Prenatal Cardiology Program, the preeminent provider of prenatal cardiac services in the region, works together with Children’s Division of Prenatal and Transitional Medicine. Your unborn child’s heart team may include many specialists, such as:

• Prenatal cardiologists
• Prenatal neurologists
• Pediatric radiologists
• Social workers
• Dedicated program coordinator
• Dedicated nurse coordinator 

In addition, as we plan for your baby to begin life outside the womb, we work with many members of the pediatric heart team, including interventional cardiologists, cardiac anesthesiologists, neonatologists and cardiac surgeons. Together, we create a plan so we are ready for all possibilities after your baby’s birth.