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screening tests can be offered in early pregnancy, as well as prior to conception. “If abnormalities are found, we can educate families about the implications of the test results and provide further testing,” she says. When neonatal intensive care is anticipated, the neonatology team mem- bers meet with families before delivery to prepare them for the complicated care their baby may need after birth. John J. Moore, MD, is the director of Neonatology at MetroHealth, where a state-of-the-art 48-bed NICU has a level III designation. Ongoing Research MetroHealth was the site of one of the country’s first perinatal research centers in the 1980s, says Dr. Mercer. Early studies focused on labor, labor complications and fetal assessment, along with the impact of exercise in pregnancy on women and their children. “Perinatal research continues to have a positive effect on patient care at MetroHealth, where our research center is adjacent to the hospital’s labor and delivery suites and NICU,” he says. MetroHealth boasts a Clinical & Translational Science Collaborative’s (CTSC) Clinical Research Unit. CTSC is part of the national Clinical Translational and Science Award consortium, which is overseen by the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). For the past 11 years, Dr. Mercer has led MetroHealth’s participation in the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development’s Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units (NICH-MFMU) network of 14 centers selected to conduct multi- center perinatal research to improve pregnancy and newborn outcomes. Maternal-fetal medicine specialist Patrick Catalano, MD, FACOG, is a pio- neer in studying the best ways to assess and manage gestational diabetes. Dr. Catalano, formerly MetroHealth’s Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology, was the site principal investigator for the NICH-MFMU funded international Dr. Carol Crowe (pictured in the center) and her team of certifi ed genetic counselors, (left to right) Michelle Merrill and Sheila Johal, work closely with MetroHealth’s maternal-fetal medicine specialists and couples at risk to have a child with a genetic condition. multi-center study on hyperglycemia and adverse pregnancy outcome. This study redefi ned the impact of glucose intolerance on pregnancy and new- borns. Dr. Catalano has also shown that current protocols for assessing gesta- tional diabetes miss too many cases. Jenni f e r Ba i l i t , MD, MPH, MetroHealth’s Director of Labor and Delivery, was the site principal investi- gator for an NIH-funded research network that studied the risks associ- ated with elective early-term birth. As a result of this study, Dr. Bailit has been working through the Ohio Perinatal Quality Collaborative to reduce the occurrence of medically un-indicated delivery before 39 weeks’ gestation, and to encourage best practices in other areas of obstetric and neonatal care. Judette Louis, MD, MPH, another MetroHealth maternal-fetal medicine specialist, is leading research locally and nationally to improve understand- ing of the effects of obesity on pregnancy and on sleep disordered breathing during pregnancy. MetroHealth’s perinatologists have also helped to + introduce progesterone therapy to prevent recurrent preterm birth + establish the use of magnesium sulfate to prevent cerebral palsy after preterm birth + establish the value of aggressive care for gestational diabetes and + ident ify the risks and benef its of repeated Cesarean deliveries and vaginal birth after Cesarean del iver y. For the past decade, MetroHealth has offered yearly continuing education programs regarding pregnancy and pregnancy complications to physicians and nurses. This year’s 11th annual Perinatal Conference is scheduled for October 5. It will focus on patient safety and simulation training to prepare for obstetric emergencies. “By being involved in research and education, we’re changing practice locally, regionally and nationally,” says Dr. Mercer. For more information about Perinatal Center of Northeast Ohio at MetroHealth Medical Center, or to refer a patient, call 216-778-5498, or visit www.metrohealth. org/obgyn. n MDNEWS.COM  JULY-AUGUST 2011  MD NEWS Cleveland-Akron-Canton | 37

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