What Happens at a Maternal-Fetal Medicine Appointment

Medically reviewed by Sina Haeri, MD, MHSA, maternal-fetal medicine physician.

At a maternal-fetal medicine appointment, expect a thorough review of your history, often a detailed ultrasound, and an unhurried conversation about risk and planning. The visit ends with a written plan shared with your referring OB or midwife. Much of an MFM consultation, including the counseling and the plan, can happen entirely by telehealth.

Before the visit

The MFM team will request your prenatal records, prior ultrasounds, lab results, and medication list in advance. The appointment builds on your full history rather than starting from zero.

If you are unsure why you were referred, ask your OB before the visit, and see our guide to why patients get referred to maternal-fetal medicine.

The consultation

The core of the visit is a long conversation with the physician. Expect detailed questions about your medical history, previous pregnancies, medications, and family history, followed by a plain-language explanation of what your situation means for you and your baby.

MFM visits typically run longer than routine prenatal appointments. Counseling is the product: you should leave understanding your level of risk, the monitoring plan, and the decision points ahead.

The ultrasound

Many MFM appointments include a detailed anatomy scan, sometimes called a level II ultrasound. It examines more fetal structures in more depth than a routine scan, with particular attention to the heart and brain, and it is interpreted by the subspecialist. The differences are spelled out in MFM ultrasound vs regular ultrasound.

The visit may also include cervical length measurement, growth assessment, or Doppler studies of blood flow.

The plan

An MFM consultation ends with a written assessment and plan sent to your referring clinician. It may recommend extra monitoring, medication changes, delivery timing, or simply routine care with no changes at all.

In most cases your OB or midwife remains your primary pregnancy clinician, with the MFM consulting or co-managing the specific issue through a model like Ouma's high-risk pregnancy service. The partnership model is covered in MFM vs OB/GYN.

What a telehealth MFM visit looks like

Because MFM is a cognitive specialty, the visit translates naturally to video. That matters: 90.3% of U.S. counties have no practicing MFM physician,¹ so for many families a telehealth consult is the only one within reach.

A telehealth MFM appointment with Ouma works like this:

• Your records and images are collected and reviewed before the visit
• You meet the board-certified MFM by video from home or from your local clinic
• Ultrasounds are performed locally, or at home with connected devices, and read remotely by the MFM, with same-day interpretations
• Blood pressure, glucose, and other data can flow in through remote patient monitoring
• The written plan goes to your OB or midwife, as it would after an office visit

A virtual visit is available within 24 hours, with interpretation in 200+ languages including ASL. Fewer than 10% of Ouma patients ever require transfer to in-person specialty care.

How to prepare

Bring a current medication list, your questions written down, and if visiting by video, a quiet spot with a decent connection.

To find out whether a tele-MFM consult could work for you or your patients, contact Ouma Health and we will walk you through it.

What the specialist will discuss with you

Counseling is the heart of the visit. After gathering information, the MFM specialist explains what it means in plain terms: the level of risk involved, what the findings do and do not tell you, and the options available. Good counseling is honest about uncertainty and grounded in current evidence from organizations such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM).

This is the moment to ask your questions. Useful ones include: What does this finding mean for my pregnancy and delivery? How closely will I be monitored, and how often? Are there symptoms I should watch for? Does this change my medications? Who is coordinating my care between now and delivery? There are no trivial questions here, and a good specialist will make space for them.

Frequently asked questions

How long does an MFM appointment take?

Plan for 45 minutes to two hours, depending on whether ultrasound is included. The counseling portion alone often runs 20-30 minutes, longer than a routine prenatal visit, because the physician is reviewing your full history and walking through risk and planning in detail. Telehealth consultations typically run 30-60 minutes.

Will I get results at my MFM appointment?

Usually, yes, for the ultrasound: the MFM reviews the images and discusses findings during the visit, and Ouma provides same-day reads for remotely acquired scans. Lab and genetic test results can take days to weeks, and the MFM will explain how and when each result will reach you.

Do I need to bring anything to an MFM consultation?

Bring your medication list, prior ultrasound reports if they were not already sent, and written questions. For telehealth visits, confirm your records were transferred in advance, and have any home monitoring readings handy. A support person is welcome at MFM visits, whether in person or on video.

Sources

1. Greiner AL, Haeri S, Nidey N, et al. Maternal-fetal medicine physician access and preterm birth in U.S. counties. Am J Perinatol. 2025. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40049592/