During a routine ultrasound, obstetrician AlanePark smears clear gel on her patient’s pale, rising belly, then moves a wand in circular motions over the flesh. The sound of a deep crackle pierces through the room before transforming into a steady, distinguishable pulse. A black and white sonogram appears on a nearby monitor, and the patient, Helena Suh, watches as Park’s finger traces the tiny fetus, pointing out its head and spine, and the grainy movements that indicate the flapping valves of a 20-week-old heart. Suh’s husband, who is sitting at a distance with his arms crossed, stands up to peer at his unborn child, and for the first time, seems to forget that a camera crew is capturing his — and his wife’s — every move.

 

Dr. Park is part of the three-physician cast for “Deliver Me,” a Discovery Health documentary-style television series on obstetricians who examine high-risk pregnancies. The unscripted show, now taping its second season which will begin in October, is set at a private obstetrics and gynecology office adjacent to the GoodSamaritanHospital in downtown Los Angeles. During Suh’s appointment, a camera crew is filming the ultrasound to later broadcast it for the program’s estimated 203,000 viewers.

 

Like all the patients who are taped, Suh granted permission to have her visits and future delivery aired. Suh, 36, has antiphospholipid syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that requires her to inject blood-thinning medication into her stomach, a grueling daily process that has left her skin speckled with bruises. This is also her third pregnancy in three years (the other two ended in miscarriages). “I wanted to help Dr. Park educate people about my rare disorder,” she says.

 

It was the educational slant of the program, and of the Discovery Channel overall, that appealed to Park, as well as her patients who’ve requested to be on the show. “They’ve seen the first season and want to share their stories with other women who potentially have similar medical problems,” Park says. “But the purpose of the show is not to scare women. The purpose, to me, is that you can have a medical problem, but in the end, you can still have a healthy baby and a healthy you.”

 

As for Suh and her husband, who have a 5-year-old son, this pregnancy — no matter the outcome — will be their last effort in having another child. “I’m doing this for my son,” says Suh. “I want him to learn how to share, to know how to take care of a sibling, and to give him the chance to be a good, big brother.”

 

When asked about Suh’s prospects of delivering a healthy baby in four months, Park crosses her fingers on both hands. “I’m keeping a close eye on her,” Park says. “All my radars are up.”

 

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During a recent taping, Park, 41, sits in her canary-walled office, surrounded by framed diplomas, books, blooming tulips, and pictures of her two sons, ages 2 and 6. She has mirthful brown eyes, shoulder-length hair tied back in a ponytail, and even while pinning a portable mic to the back of her black dress, moves with the grace and focus of a surgeon.