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Hi, this is Real Talk Hurley Medical Center.
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I'm Lise Marie, and today my guest is Dr.
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Robin Garcia, who is Hurley's maternal fetal medicine specialist.
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Thank you for joining us today.
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Thank you for having me.
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So somebody's hearing that term right now may not know about maternal fetal medicine.
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What exactly is it?
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And how does it differ from a traditional OB?
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Yeah, that's a great question.
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And, you know, really, uh, it's really just an extension maternal fetal medicine from just general OBGYN uh physicians.
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I also did my residency in OBGYN first and then you know did a special training in maternal fetal medicine.
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But really, we do get a lot of referrals for even lower risk patients.
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You know, you really can see a maternal fetal medicine physician for any reason.
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Um most of our uh patients we're monitoring, you know, a little bit more, uh a little bit increased surveillance if we're watching something or if mom has a medical condition that warrants a little bit more monitoring.
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Of course, if the fetus also has uh a concern or we're worried about something genetic or something we found on her ultrasound.
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So sometimes just added reassurance, even to help follow the mom and give her that added um communication piece.
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So we work really closely with their OBGYN in terms of you know managing patients, counseling them, and sometimes just seeing them routinely just for a little bit more higher level imaging, even.
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Um we have great technology and great ultrasound tools that we are so fortunate to have.
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And so, yeah, many reasons to see us.
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Um you know, so we work very, very closely with um the general OBGYNs.
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You know, that is it's something that people were thinking like, what are some of those reasons that an expectant mom's like, okay, I'm hearing, I have to go.
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Is it automatically mean there's something incredibly serious, or could it just be precautionary?
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Yeah, that's uh, you know, also a great question.
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And a lot of patients that come into the office, you know, you can tell they're nervous because they're have this label of, oh, I'm high risk, I'm at the high-risk doctor's office.
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But you know, we don't we don't want you to feel that way because, like you said, you know, once in a while, you know, that is the case, the mom might be a little higher risk for something within them their own self, uh, some medical problem, or if the baby has something going on.
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However, you know, a lot of times it's just getting more information, another second opinion, really, you know, um, or just kind of giving a you know some parameters of of when to be concerned.
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Um so it's just really just an extra set of eyes, really, to watch and you know, help counsel.
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It doesn't always mean that there's something very high risk.
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And in a lot of my patients, I see one time and that's it.
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You know, um some I see every week, uh, you know, so it really just depends on the on the patient.
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You know, we're in a world where people love to self-diagnose.
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You know, they turn to social media, they turn to chat GPT.
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What are some signs that maybe you shouldn't be self-diagnosing, you know, picking up the book, talking to friends, and maybe reach out and talk to somebody.
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Yeah, I I love that you asked that because it I I I actually encourage patients at times to, you know, ask their friends and family, look, look on Google, look on ChatGPD, come with questions.
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But know that there's caveats and that a lot of times it doesn't apply to you.
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Or, you know, but I do think it's sometimes helpful to seek out some information so you know how to ask questions.
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But you know, we you know, to your point, you you know, there's a lot of false information out there and a lot of things that might be an extreme case, you know.
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Um, so definitely don't want you to focus too much on that.
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We would love if you reached out to your provider or to us directly and you know, ask us the questions.
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So they go to their OB, they find out that they're going to have to see you, they come to see you for their first visit.
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What can they expect?
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Like what is gonna be the next step in getting the care underway with you joining the team?
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Yeah, so usually I would say 90 plus percent of the time we're doing an ultrasound in addition to you know talking with mom.
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Um, it's usually part of the visit.
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So um most of the time you're gonna be getting an ultrasound.
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Sometimes it might just be counseling.
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It maybe you're not pregnant yet and you're looking to get pregnant and want some information.
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Um so we call that like a preconception counseling.
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So sometimes you don't have an ultrasound, but a lot of times you can expect, you know, we're gonna check your blood pressure, we're gonna check your vital signs, you know, you're gonna probably have an ultrasound.
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Um, and then I'm gonna sit down with you and, you know, with my computer next to me and go over all the images of the baby with you so you know what's happening, if that's if that applies to you.
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And, you know, we sit down and talk for as long as it takes.
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Usually it takes maybe 30 minutes, sometimes it can take an hour.
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And you know, we go over everything and make a treatment plan and then go over it with your doctor.
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We send all the information to your you know, physician or or provider, and sometimes we'll see you again uh later in the pregnancy if it's if it's needed.
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Um but like I said, sometimes it's uh you know just a one-time visit.
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So mom has a baby, first baby, she works with you through that pregnancy, gets pregnant again.
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Does it necessarily mean because you needed that specialty with the first pregnancy that it'll be an ongoing thing with other pregnancies?
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Um so I would say that that's definitely not the case every time.
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Um, you know, sometimes history likes to repeat itself.
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So if uh we had something in the past, sometimes it does happen again.
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But you don't always need the same, you know, level of um, you know, counseling and things.
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You're kind of might already be plugged into that information, but we often will see you again.
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Um but really it's just kind of independent, dependent on the patient and the provider and what they feel comfortable with.
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And you know, we're just here to help and support, really.
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Well, we're really lucky to have you on board at Hurley Medical Center.
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If you're listening right now, you want to get in touch with Dr.
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Garcia, can reach you on the website, right?
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Get information there and call the office.
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Yes, so you can reach us um on the website, um, the HurleyMC.com.
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Um we also have our direct line to our clinic, um 810-262-4787.
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You can call, make an appointment.
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We would love to see you.
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Please come and uh you know, come visit us and talk with your doctor if you feel like extra counseling um would be helpful for your pregnancy um or if there's something going on.
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Um I'm sure hopefully your your physician will uh send you over to us.
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Well, thank you.
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Thank you, Dr.
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Garcia.
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Thank you.