When Katarina’s unborn baby was diagnosed with myelomeningocele (MMC), “It was kind of a shock, but my doctor said the best bet was fetal surgery. He referred me to Colorado right away, and he said we needed to do it as soon as possible,” she says. “That just kind of threw me for a whirlwind, and I have other kids to take care of too. It was a lot to process.”
When faced with a severe form of spina bifida, Iliana underwent cutting-edge in-utero surgery at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health. Today she is thriving thanks to her mother’s courageous decision.
“I had the chance to give my baby a better opportunity in life, and I took it.”
Fetal Health Foundation founder and Fetal Care Chat host, Lonnie Somers welcomes three amazing pioneering women in fetal medicine. Dr. Jenan Miller, Dr. Courtney Stephenson, and Dr. Diana Farmer.
Three babies have been born after receiving the world’s first spina bifida treatment combining surgery with stem cells. This was made possible by a landmark clinical trial at UC Davis Health.
The new treatment, delivered while a fetus is still in the mother’s womb, could improve outcomes for children with this birth defect.
“The doctor came in and handed me a box of tissues,” Katie recalls. “She was saying something about an abnormal pregnancy, shunts, abnormalities of the left leg, club foot. I was in complete shock at that point, and I couldn’t really make out what she was saying because it felt like time was suspended.”
In a span of two hours, their lives had been turned upside down.
Cincinnati Children’s, a national leader in prenatal myelomeningocele surgery, recently conducted their 100th prenatal surgical repair. Kelly Song’s daughter was diagnosed with spina bifida at 20 weeks. Read more: