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In a recent episode of the Healthful Woman podcast, Dr. Nathan Fox sat down with Dr. Feltovich to discuss her research on preterm birth. Their conversation explored her journey into medicine, the complexities of predicting and preventing early labor, and the future of preterm birth research.

Dr. Feltovich’s Career Path

Dr. Feltovich’s path to maternal-fetal medicine was untraditional. She initially aspired to become a legal secretary and received a degree in art and philosophy, but a series of unexpected opportunities led her to medicine. While in Brazil, she witnessed a C-section firsthand, solidifying her desire to specialize in obstetrics. Her interest in the unknowns of pregnancy, particularly the beginning stages of labor, pushed her into researching preterm birth.

The Difficulty of Predicting Preterm Birth

One of the key elements of Dr. Feltovich’s research is the complexity of preterm birth. Despite advancements in medical science, physicians still struggle to determine why some women deliver premature babies. She and Dr. Fox emphasize the current tools, such as measuring cervical length. Dr. Feltovich states, “We don’t have hardly anything more at our disposal for predicting timing of delivery than Hippocrates…Soranus, the original gynecologist, taught his midwives that when the pregnant cervix was readying for delivery, it felt soft like an egg.” The lack of reliable indicators for preterm labor highlights the need for more research. During this episode of the Healthful Woman Podcast, Dr. Feltovich states, “Women’s medicine is understudied because it’s been underfunded, and fortunately, now there’s awareness of that, so there’s hope.”

Dr. Feltovich’s Research on Preterm Births

Dr. Feltovich and her team are focused on transforming how preterm birth is studied. Previous preterm birth research is minimal. With information from advancements in cancer research, Dr. Feltovich states that much of the research on preterm later is retrospective. “There’s been really valuable, amazing research that preterm birth is now…it used to be understood as a single entity, just like cancer, you know, more than a hundred years ago…But now it’s understood as, you know, it’s sort of a syndrome, you know? And so we’ll get there. It probably has hundreds, and perhaps thousands of, you know, different mechanisms to cause it, just like various cancers do.”  This emphasizes the complexities of preterm birth as a whole. Preterm research now utilizes quantitative imaging, molecular studying of tissues, and computational modeling to understand preterm labor better.

The Future to Prevent Preterm Birth

While preterm birth remains a persistent issue, Dr. Feltovich remains optimistic about the future. She believes that with continued investment in research, improved imaging techniques, and multidisciplinary effort, obstetricians can provide better answers and outcomes for expecting mothers. Dr. Feltovich states, “To my knowledge, we are the only ones who are taking this sort of ultrasound, quantitative ultrasound, you know, imaging, biomarker, feeding into computational modeling approach, but we are open sourcing all the things that we come up with, and when that happens, it’s just a matter of time before others take it up. And with our ability, with the growing awareness, to look at data and process data in a way like we never have before, I think there’s a lot of room for optimism.”

Learn More

For those wanting to learn more about Dr. Feltovich’s research, the full podcast episode is available on Healthful Woman. If you or someone you know is seeking expert prenatal care, Maternal Fetal Medicine Associates offers specialized services to support expecting mothers through every stage of pregnancy. Contact Maternal Fetal Medicine Associates in New York by completing the online contact form today.

Maternal Fetal Medicine blogs are intended for educational purposes only and do not replace certified professional care. Medical conditions vary and change frequently. Please ask your doctor any questions you may have regarding your condition to receive a proper diagnosis or risk analysis. Thank you!