Dr. Ruth C Fretts MD

Expert Publications

• Determinants of unexplained antepartum fetal deaths.
• Maternal age and fetal loss. Older women have increased risk of unexplained fetal deaths.
• The evolution of menopause and human life span.
• Impact of labor induction, gestational age, and maternal age on cesarean delivery rates.
• Etiology and prevention of stillbirth.
• The changing pattern of fetal death, 1961-1988.
• Stillbirth.
• Fetal movement assessment.
• Management of decreased fetal movements.
• New indications for antepartum testing: making the case for antepartum surveillance or timed delivery for women of advanced maternal age.
• Causes of death and associated conditions (Codac): a utilitarian approach to the classification of perinatal deaths.
• The study of stillbirth.
• Stillbirth classification--developing an international consensus for research: executive summary of a National Institute of Child Health and Human Development workshop.
• Implementation of uniform information on fetal movement in a Norwegian population reduced delayed reporting of decreased fetal movement and stillbirths in primiparous women - a clinical quality improvement.
• Stillbirth: knowledge and practice among U.S. obstetrician-gynecologists.

Media Releases

Get to know Obstetrician-Gynecologist Dr. Ruth C. Fretts, who serves patients in Wellesley, Massachusetts. 

Dr. Fretts is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist who specializes in women’s health, particularly the female reproductive system, pregnancy, and childbirth. Her clinical interests include epidemiological research on specific causes of fetal death, maternal age, parity on birth outcomes, menopause, and operative hysteroscopy. 

She has been in practice with Harvard Vanguard Wellesley in Wellesley, Massachusetts since 2000. A part of Atrium Health, Harvard Vanguard Wellesley has been caring for residents of Wellesley, Newton, Natick, Needham, Framingham and other nearby cities and towns since 1980. The practice provides primary care for adults and children, as well as a wide range of medical and surgical specialty care.

In addition to her affiliation with Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Dr. Fretts holds faculty appointments at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts and Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

After earning her undergraduate degree from the University of Ottawa, she went on to obtain her medical degree from Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada. She then went on to complete her internship at Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, followed by her residency at Jewish General Hospital. She also holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.

In addition to being a Fellow of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (FACOG), the doctor is board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG). The ABOG is a non-profit organization that provides board certification for practicing obstetricians and gynecologists in the United States and Canada. 

Obstetrics and Gynecology is the medical specialty that encompasses the two subspecialties of obstetrics, covering pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period, and gynecology, covering the health of the female reproductive system, the vagina, uterus, ovaries, and breasts. An obstetrician-gynecologist, or OB-GYN, is a healthcare professional who specializes in female reproductive health.

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