Scientists know that heart disease can impact a baby’s brain development while they are in the womb. The most common complication of congenital heart disease (CHD) is neurodevelopmental disability, which can lead to long-term problems with learning, attention, motor skills, speech and language, social interaction, vision and hearing.

Most studies of treatments to prevent this type of brain injury focus on what happens after a baby is born. Our Fetal Neuroprotection and Neuroplasticity Program at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is dedicated to the discovery of new prenatal treatments that will protect brain development and prevent brain injury as early as possible before birth.