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Birth of a Breakthrough: Spina Bifida Video - CHOP
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Delivery After Fetal Surgery
Many babies that undergo fetal surgery for spina bifida are born prematurely. The CHOP team’s goal is to get the pregnancy to 37 weeks gestation and then deliver the baby in CHOP’s Special Delivery Unit (SDU) by cesarean section. The delivery team coordinates to ensure that all aspects of care around the newborn’s delivery after fetal surgery are seamlessly executed. The baby is first introduced to the parents and family and then brought to CHOP’s newborn/infant ICU for assessment and monitoring following delivery after fetal surgery.
The Birth of a Breakthrough Video explores spina bifida diagnosis, treatment options, delivery and follow-up care at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Experts at CHOP’s Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment have the world’s greatest collective experience in prenatal repair for spina bifida.
Videos in this Series
- Brief Introduction
- Spina Bifida Facts: What is Spina Bifida?
- Evaluation: Learning Your Options
- Considering Fetal Surgery for Spina Bifida
- Fetal Repair at CHOP: How It Works
- Post Fetal Repair Surgery: The First Days After Surgery
- Spina Bifida Care During Pregnancy
- NOW PLAYING
Delivery After Fetal Surgery - Another Choice: Postnatal Surgery for Spina Bifida
- Newborn Care at CHOP After Spina Bifida Surgery
- Fetal Repair Follow-Up Care
- Superior Spina Bifida Treatment: Experience, Innovation, Excellence
Transcript: Delivery After Fetal Surgery
Lori J. Howell, RN: Our goal with fetal surgery repair for spina bifida is to get the mother to 37 weeks.
N. Scott Adzick, MD: Babies who undergo fetal surgery tend to be born prematurely. In the MOMS trial they were born at an average gestational age just beyond 34 weeks, but 10 percent were born at 30 weeks or prior to that time, which is quite premature.
Mark P. Johnson, MD: Over 65 percent of them get past that 35-week mark. And then it becomes a matter of timing of delivery.
Susan R. Miesnik, MSN: We've made an incision in the uterus that is not in a safe part of the uterus to allow the woman to labor in any pregnancy going forward.
Lori J. Howell, RN: So the baby is delivered via cesarean section in the Special Delivery Unit.
N. Scott Adzick, MD: The Special Delivery Unit was built for the mother carrying a baby with a birth defect, was built for the mother carrying a baby with spina bifida.
Natalie E. Rintoul, MD: We, as the resuscitation team, feel like we are very prepared for those deliveries. We have excellent communication with the obstetricians, and we have access to all their prenatal imaging. We know those babies very well, and we coordinate their delivery and their care.
Katherine Mulligan, mother: Dr. Johnson delivered Sean.
Michael Mulligan, father: He came out very healthy, 6 lbs. 7 oz.
Katherine Mulligan, mother: Which was a very good size for a child that's born at 36 1/2 weeks. He was a big boy.
Susan R. Miesnik, MSN: We always make a point of bringing the baby to the mother prior to bringing the baby down to the NICU so that the mother and father – and any relatives that they want – can see the baby.
Natalie E. Rintoul, MD: And from there, we take the baby straight down to the newborn infant ICU and the moms are close. You know, they can come down as soon as they're feeling well. And, if there's something going on, we're able to go straight back up to their unit.
Michael Mulligan, father: The idea of being together is huge when you're talking about what's already a very stressful situation.
Natalie E. Rintoul, MD: So really the SDU has been a wonderful thing.
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