POSTED BY:
Eric Paul Bergh, MD

If you’re reading about fetal surgery, it’s likely not out of curiosity. You are probably here because something was said in a doctor’s office that changed the way you see your pregnancy and now you’re trying to understand what it means and who can help. Today, specialized centers across the United States perform hundreds of in-utero procedures each year, intervening before birth to mitigate or improve life-altering conditions that once offered families little to no hope at all. From medication treatment and minimally invasive fetoscopic surgery to open maternal-fetal surgery and EXIT procedures, the scope of fetal interventions continues to expand — a testament to how far fetal therapy has come, and a luminous promise of everything still on the horizon. Facing fetal surgery can feel overwhelming. This guide walks you through what you need to know about this growing specialty, including what fetal surgery is and who performs it, […]

Hearing that your healthy pregnancy is now considered high-risk can feel like the ground shifting beneath your feet. That moment when everything you imagined about this chapter of your life suddenly looks more complicated, and far more uncertain, than you expected. However, complex pregnancies are exactly what maternal-fetal medicine specialists — or MFMs — are trained for, and the care that surrounds your family in those moments is more thoughtful and more coordinated than you realize. In fact, it’s estimated that hundreds of thousands of families navigate this experience every year. So even when the stress is high, you aren’t going through it alone. Here are some things to know about the coordination and expertise that’s taking place within your maternal fetal health (MFH) care team to treat, support, and make decisions for both mother and baby. What should families understand about the decision-making process? One of the most remarkable […]