Prenatal consultation

A prenatal consultation at WIN is a visit for expecting parents who want to support their baby's neurodevelopment before birth. Led by Dr. Carmen Báez-Franceschi, a board-certified pediatrician, it looks at nutrition, environmental exposures and the family's health history, and plans for the newborn's first months. Families come to our Houston and San Juan centers or connect by telemedicine from Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.

What is a prenatal consultation?

A prenatal neurodevelopment consultation is a medical conversation about the environment a baby's brain is growing in. The brain forms faster during pregnancy and the first years than at any other time, and it depends on the building blocks and conditions the body provides: nutrients, a healthy gut, a low toxic load and stable maternal health. The consultation reviews those modifiable factors and turns them into a practical plan for the rest of the pregnancy and the first months after birth.

It is not obstetric care. WIN does not replace your OB-GYN or midwife, monitor the pregnancy or deliver the baby. It is also not a genetic prediction or a screening for autism or ADHD. What it offers is a pediatric and neurodevelopmental perspective on the choices parents can still make, from a physician who has spent more than two decades treating children whose difficulties often began very early.

Who a prenatal consultation helps

Many families request this visit because a neurodevelopmental condition already runs in the family: an older sibling with autism, ADHD or auditory processing difficulties, a speech delay or dyslexia, or a parent with an autoimmune disorder or chronic gastrointestinal issues. Others have no history but want to begin with as much information as possible.

The consultation is for the expecting mother and, ideally, both parents. It can take place at any point in the pregnancy; earlier gives more time to act on the findings. Couples who are planning a pregnancy also ask for it. Like every WIN service, it is built around a medical evaluation with the physician rather than a standard package: what is recommended depends on your history and, where appropriate, your labs.

What a session looks like at WIN

The visit begins with a detailed history: your health and your partner's, previous pregnancies, family neurodevelopmental and autoimmune conditions, diet, medications and supplements, and your home and work environment. Dr. Báez-Franceschi then reviews the areas that research links to early brain development and that are within your control during pregnancy, such as nutrition, nutrient status, gut health and exposure to environmental toxins.

Where appropriate, she may order specialized laboratories, for example nutritional deficiencies, food sensitivities, metabolic or hormone panels, or environmental toxin testing, and discuss the results at a follow-up visit. Any lab work is coordinated with the care you already receive from your obstetric provider.

You leave with written recommendations: dietary adjustments, individualized supplementation when indicated, practical ways to reduce exposures at home, and a plan for the newborn's first months, including feeding, sleep and the early developmental signs worth watching. The parents' role is active throughout; nothing is done to the baby, and nothing in the visit is invasive.

How it fits the Franceschi Method®

The prenatal consultation sits in Phase I and Phase II of the Franceschi Method®: evaluation and planning, then medical and nutritional protocols. It uses the same tools WIN applies to children, functional medicine to look for root causes, genetic testing when it helps individualize supplementation, and nutrition protocols built on lab findings, applied earlier than usual.

After the birth, the relationship can continue. WIN sees infants, and the plan made during pregnancy becomes the baseline for the baby's first pediatric and neurodevelopmental check-ins: feeding and gut health, early motor milestones and primitive reflexes, hearing and attention to sounds. Progress is measured at each step and parents receive clear recommendations and guidance, so that if something needs attention, it is noticed early.

What families can expect

Most families have one initial consultation, a follow-up if labs were ordered, and then check-ins as the pregnancy advances or after the birth, as the plan sets. Because the consultation is medical rather than hands-on, it can often be done by telemedicine for families in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico; international families visit Houston or San Juan. What parents typically describe afterward is clarity: knowing which changes are worth making now and what to watch for once the baby arrives.

If you are expecting, or planning to be, and want a neurodevelopmental perspective on these months, we would be glad to talk. Request an orientation with our team in Houston or San Juan, in English or Spanish, and we will explain how a prenatal consultation works for your family.