URGENT UPDATE: Due to a broadcast issue with Verizon, TGH is currently having trouble receiving incoming calls. If you have an emergency, please call 911. We encourage patients to use MyChart for any non-urgent communications. Our vendors are working diligently to resolve the issues as quickly as possible.

First Perinatal Teratogen/Exposure Clinic in the Nation

Tampa General Hospital and USF Health are home to the only Perinatal Teratogen/Exposure Clinic in the U.S. Led by Sarah Običan, MD, division director of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at TGH and an associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at USF Health, the clinic offers counseling and education about the safety of medications, drugs, chemicals, or other environmental agents patients may encounter during pregnancy and/or breastfeeding.

The clinic is staffed by a genetic counselor and a maternal-fetal medicine specialist who is specially trained in reproductive toxicology teratogen counseling. The TGH Exposures Clinic is one of 14 centers throughout the country where anyone can call and receive information about a known or potential exposure. Anyone in Florida can reach out to the TGH Exposures Clinic for information about exposures in pregnancy and lactation.

Patients who contact the clinic receive a complete assessment of potential or known exposures that they can take back to their obstetricians and primary care providers for follow up and discussion.

Among the most common concerns are mental health medications and their impact on babies in utero and while breastfeeding. Clinic counselors have the training and expertise to communicate information about medication half-life information, drug interactions and other concerns.

Other common exposures include:

  • Medications: blood pressure meds, seizure meds, anxiety meds, OTC
  • Substances: tobacco, alcohol, cocaine, heroin, marijuana
  • Infections: syphilis, CMV, listeria, Zika, parvovirus
  • Chemicals: lead, benzene, mercury, pesticides
  • Supplements: herbal, homeopathic, dietary
  • Other Agents: radiation, heat, hypoxia