Message from the Chair

I am pleased to present an update from our department, including exciting developments in our department’s advancements in research, new faculty, and continued dedication to excellence in patient care.

Additionally, we are excited to feature an overview of our comprehensive Placenta Accreta Program developed by our dedicated faculty and staff to manage this complex diagnosis.  We hope you find this  informative and useful in your practice.

As you know, diagnosis of placenta accreta requires sophisticated ultrasound read by experts in maternal and fetal imaging. Successful treatment depends on close collaboration of an experienced multidisciplinary team such as ours, which we activate upon diagnosis. My goal in this update is to introduce you to six members of our Placenta Accreta Program: maternal-fetal medicine specialist Dr. Baha Sibai; gynecologic oncologist Dr. Rosa Guerra; maternal and fetal imaging specialists Dr. Edgar Hernandez-Andrade and Dr. Eleazar Soto Torres; and two highly skilled and experienced nurse navigators who provide physical and emotional support for mothers through their entire placenta accreta experience: Sandra Uribe at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital and Holly Howington in our department’s outpatient OB/GYN Continuity Clinic.

The patient experience is of utmost importance to us. When mothers come for their frequent evaluations, they come to one clinic and our entire team goes to them. We offer three options for treatment: C-section and hysterectomy; delayed hysterectomy; or keeping the uterus for a potential future pregnancy. We counsel each patient on the risks and benefits of these options, and we follow each patient closely until there is complete resolution.

If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact me directly. We welcome your feedback and collaboration.

With warm regards,

 

Sean C. Blackwell, MD

Emma Sue Hightower Professor and Chair

Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences

Director, The Larry C. Gilstrap Center for Perinatal and Women’s Health Research

Assistant Dean, Healthcare Quality in Perinatal Medicine and Women’s Health

McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston