ESCONDIDO -- Women with high-risk pregnancies can now get more of the care they need without leaving North County, under a new program launched at Palomar Medical Center.

The Perinatal Testing Center provides ultrasound examinations, genetic testing, diabetes management and other services. It is jointly run by Palomar Pomerado Health and UCSD Medical Center, and was launched last fall.

Obstetricians refer women to the center to be monitored when there's a concern the pregnancy may be unusually difficult. They are placed under the care of a perinatalogist, a doctor who specializes in pregnancy and post-birth care for mother and baby.

The perinatal center's advantage in providing exams such as ultrasound is that its medical staff knows more about how to use the results than those untrained in perinatal care, said Steven J. Thomas, a UCSD perinatologist at the center.

"If we identify a problem on the ultrasound, it's beyond the scope of the radiologist to offer a plan: Should you do fetal monitoring, or should you deliver the baby early, should you deliver the baby here at Palomar or at a tertiary center where they have pediatric surgery available?" Thomas asked. "You bring a different level of expertise than is available at every center that's doing deliveries."

Diabetes is one of the most pressing issues, Thomas said. "There's a large Hispanic population in San Diego, and diabetes is very prevalent in that population, especially gestational diabetes," he said.

Diabetes is a defect in how the body produces or handles insulin, a hormone that controls glucose, a sugar that fuels the body. The kind of diabetes that's most common is called Type II or adult-onset diabetes. Glucose remains in the blood, starving the body's cells of energy and possibly harming the eyes, kidneys, nerves or heart. Gestational diabetes is triggered by pregnancy in non-diabetic women.

Diabetes threatens the baby's health as well as the mother's, Thomas said. In the perinatal testing program, diabetic women have their blood glucose monitored and are advised on the proper diet and exercise to bring down their glucose levels.

Older mothers, those over 35, are also at elevated risk of pregnancy complications, Thomas said. The unborn baby's development is checked with a sensitive ultrasound device that not only shows the baby's size, shape, and position, but also its blood circulation. For example, the ultrasound device can visualize the blood flow through the umbilical cord, revealing whether a kink in the cord is reducing circulation. The fetal heart can be seen in motion.

When genetic abnormalities are feared, amniotic fluid can be withdrawn and analyzed at UCSD Medical Center's genetics lab. The results are available in 10 to 14 days, Thomas said.

For more information, contact the Perinatal Testing Center at (760) 739-3404.

Contact staff writer Bradley J. Fikes at (760) 739-6641 or bfikes@nctimes.com.