A Maternal-Fetal Medicine unit built on shared clinical experience.
Two subspecialists. Two established programmes. One unit built around coordinated, evidence-based care.
THE UNIT
The Mediclinic Maternal-Fetal Medicine Unit is built on the experience of consultants who have developed MFM services and managed complex maternal and fetal conditions in the UAE and internationally.
The unit combines that experience with Mediclinic's clinical infrastructure and governance to provide subspecialist-led assessment, multidisciplinary planning, and coordinated referral pathways.
We operate across two facilities — Mediclinic Al Jowhara Hospital in Al Ain and Mediclinic Airport Road Hospital in Abu Dhabi. Amniocentesis, CVS, fetal blood sampling, and amniodrainage are available in Al Ain; advanced fetal therapy and surgery beyond those procedures are delivered through the Abu Dhabi hub.
This is a clinical unit designed to assess complex cases, explain findings clearly, and coordinate an appropriate care plan.
OUR STORY
From two programmes. To one unit.
The story of this unit is the story of two clinicians who built MFM in the UAE — independently, in parallel, in two different cities — and then decided to build something together that was larger than either programme alone.
MEET THE FOUNDERS
Dr. Ali Al-Ibrahim
Consultant in Maternal-Fetal Medicine | Co-Founder | Al Ain
Dr. Ali Al-Ibrahim established and led the Maternal-Fetal Medicine department at Kanad Hospital in Al Ain from 2015 to 2026. The programme included FMF-accredited prenatal screening, invasive diagnostic procedures, fetal Doppler surveillance, high-risk maternal co-management, and fetal therapy.
He created referral pathways, built multidisciplinary relationships, trained sonographers, and established the clinical protocols required for a structured MFM department in Al Ain.
Dr. Al-Ibrahim's clinical focus spans the breadth of MFM: from first-trimester combined screening and anomaly assessment to fetal therapy for twin complications, intrauterine transfusion, cervical incompetence management, and the full range of maternal medical conditions that require subspecialist involvement in pregnancy. He holds FMF accreditation and brings to this unit more than a decade of experience managing the most complex cases in the region.
His vision is that every woman in the UAE with a high-risk pregnancy or fetal concern should have timely access to evidence-based subspecialist care.
Dr. Leanne Bricker
Consultant in Maternal-Fetal Medicine | Co-Founder | Abu Dhabi
Dr. Leanne Bricker is a Consultant in Fetal and Maternal Medicine at Mediclinic Airport Road Hospital, with more than three decades of clinical and academic experience.
After leading the Fetal Medicine Unit at Liverpool Women's Hospital, Dr. Bricker moved to Abu Dhabi in 2014 and chaired Fetal Medicine at Corniche Hospital until June 2025. Her work includes fetoscopic laser treatment for twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, intrauterine transfusion, maternal medicine, and multidisciplinary planning for complex fetal conditions.
Her particular expertise lies in the most challenging end of fetal medicine — the cases where diagnosis alone is not enough, where intervention is required, and where the margin for error is measured in days. She brings to this unit an evidence base, a technical skill set, and a standard of clinical governance that defines what a true fetal therapy programme looks like.
Together with Dr. Al-Ibrahim, she has helped build the clinical framework, referral pathways, team, and protocols that underpin this unit.
WHY MEDICLINIC
This unit exists within Mediclinic Middle East because Mediclinic is one of the few private hospital organisations in the region with the infrastructure, the governance standards, and the clinical culture to support a programme of this ambition.
Mediclinic International operates across three continents — Southern Africa, Switzerland, and the Middle East — with a track record of clinical excellence that spans decades. In the UAE, Mediclinic Middle East runs a network of hospitals and clinics held to international standards of safety, accreditation, and patient care.
For a subspecialty unit that requires advanced equipment, multidisciplinary team coordination, intensive care backup, neonatal surgical capability, and the governance structures to support complex clinical practice — the choice of partner matters. We chose Mediclinic because their standards match ours.
THE UAE — WHY THIS MATTERS HERE
The UAE has built, in a generation, one of the most remarkable healthcare systems in the world. It has attracted clinical talent from across the globe, invested in infrastructure that rivals the most advanced health systems in Europe, and created regulatory frameworks — through the DOH and MOHAP — that hold providers to genuinely international standards.
What the UAE has not had, until now, is a dedicated, independent MFM unit operating at the level its population deserves and its infrastructure can support.
The patients are here. The cases are here. The referral base is here. And the expectation — from patients, from referring physicians, and from the health authorities — is that care delivered in the UAE should be world-class, not an approximation of it.
That is what this unit is built to deliver.
OUR COMMITMENTS
What we stand for — clinically and institutionally.
Subspecialist-only care
Every patient who comes to this unit is seen by a fellowship-trained, accredited MFM subspecialist. Not a general obstetrician.
Evidence-based practice
Our protocols are built on current international guidelines — ISUOG, FIGO, RCOG, SMFM — and reviewed continuously.
Complete capability
We provide MFM care from preconception to delivery planning, with advanced fetal therapy and surgery coordinated through the Abu Dhabi hub.
Honest communication
Families facing a complex fetal diagnosis deserve honesty, options, and a plan — not ambiguity and deferral.
Rapid access
Suspected fetal abnormalities are time-sensitive. Referrals are prioritised according to clinical urgency and current service capacity.
A written report, every time
Referring clinicians receive a written consultation report through the established clinical pathway.
OUR LOCATIONS
Mediclinic Al Jowhara Hospital — Al Ain, UAE
The regional centre for MFM in the Eastern Region of Abu Dhabi. It serves patients from Al Ain city, the surrounding wilayat, and across the Omani border region.
Get Directions
Mediclinic Airport Road — Abu Dhabi, UAE
Serving the capital and the broader Abu Dhabi Emirate. Operating within one of Mediclinic's flagship UAE hospitals with full NICU and surgical support.
Get DirectionsThe pregnancies that need the most deserve the best.
Whether you are a patient seeking subspecialist care, an obstetrician looking for a reliable referral partner, or a physician with a complex case that requires a second opinion — this unit exists for you.