Prenatal Technology at Somerset Campus

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset has two technologies available to help ensure healthy pregnancies:

3-D Ultrasound
This highly advanced form of obstetric imaging shows an unborn baby’s features so clearly that you could count every vertebrae of the baby’s spine. It also can project 4-D action images of the baby in the womb. The ultrasound can detect abnormalities such as club feet, overlapping fingers, cleft palate, deformed fingers and toes, and spinal and facial defects.

For most women, only the traditional 2-D ultrasound is needed. A 3-D ultrasound would be recommended by a physician only if a 2-D ultrasound indicated a serious problem with the baby. The test is only performed for medical reasons.

Conducted by sonographers specially trained in obstetric imaging, the one-hour test is offered in Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset’s perinatology suite.

Lab Test for Premature Births
A test performed at the medical center's clinical laboratory can determine if expectant mothers are at high risk for pre-term delivery. The test is performed on women who are between 24 and 34 weeks pregnant and have shown signs of premature labor or are considered high risk for premature delivery.

The test checks for fetal fibronectin, a protein found in the uterus when the placenta begins to separate from the uterine wall. Its presence indicates that a woman is at high risk for giving birth within seven days. If it is detected, a doctor may opt to hospitalize a woman to try to delay labor as long as possible through preventive measures such as labor-suppressing medications.

The test is available to inpatients and outpatients at the medical center 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Results of the test are available in approximately two hours.