Maryland's Health Matters - Capital Region - Winter 2018 - 7

FROM PRENATAL
CARE TO MENOPAUSE
AND BEYOND, THE
WOMEN'S HEALTH
SPECIALISTS AT
UM CAPITAL REGION
HEALTH PROVIDE HIGH
QUALITY CARE FOR
EVERY STAGE OF LIFE

W

hen Diamond Tompkins
became pregnant last year,
she was diagnosed with

placenta previa, a condition in which
the placenta blocks the cervix, which
can lead to dangerous bleeding during
pregnancy and birth.
That's how the 26-year-old from
Upper Marlboro came to be under the
watchful care of Kerry M. Lewis, MD,
the division director of maternal-fetal
medicine at the University of Maryland
Capital Region Health and a high-risk
pregnancy specialist.
After two bleeding episodes that led
to overnight hospital stays, Tompkins
was put on bed rest around the 28th
week of her pregnancy. "I was scared
and nervous," she says. "I had never
heard of placenta previa, and I had

Left to right: Marie-Christine Nkodo, MD;
Billie Hamilton-Powell, CNM; Ugochi
Akoma, MD; Kerry M. Lewis, MD;
Nkechinyere Nwaobasi, MD; Shelley-Ann
Hope, MD; Rita Anu, PA-C.

FOR WOMEN
UM Capital Region Health at umcapitalregion.org/healthy or by calling 301-618-2000.

never been pregnant before. I was also
skeptical of having a C-section, which
I was told I would need."
Dr. Lewis reassured his patient, however, and even gave her his personal
phone number in case problems cropped
up. "He really let me know that he would
take care of me," Tompkins says.
On Sept. 12, just a week shy of her
due date, Tompkins went into labor.
Fortunately, her condition had improved
and she delivered her baby naturally.
umcapitalregion.org | Winter 2018  7

http://www.umcapitalregion.org http://www.umcapitalregion.org/healthy

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Maryland's Health Matters - Capital Region - Winter 2018