Martin was the first fellowship-trained, board-certified Maternal-Fetal Medicine subspecialist in Mississippi. His career changed the way obstetricians around the country manage crisis pregnancies, including those complicated by preeclampsia, the leading cause of premature birth and maternal death.

Martin and his team at the Medical Center created the world's largest data base of patients with HELLP syndrome, a severe form of preeclampsia. HELLP is the acronym for the symptoms that define the syndrome: hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low blood platelets.