For the first time in the UK, the fetus is operated on while still in the womb

It was a double surgery, dissecting the mother's uterus and then operating the spine for the fetus.

Two breakthrough surgeries have been successfully performed in the UK, in which surgeons have given birth to two children with spina bifida since birth. Exactly, they had surgery for two unborn babies. It is amazing!

The surgeries were performed a few months ago, taking place within 90 minutes, mobilizing 30 doctors and medical staff at University College London Hospital. But wait until now, doctors dare to confirm the successful results of these two surgeries. Both the fetus and the mother have recovered well.

The first two babies in England were operated on in their womb.

Spina bifida is a condition in which the spine and membranes of the spine develop inadequately, exposing the spinal cord to the outside right from pregnancy. About one in every 1,000 babies in the UK suffer from this neural tube defect. The disease is thought to be related to genetics or low levels of folic acid.

The most severe form of defect, called myelomeningocele, can lead to many different problems, from the birth of a child with a motor disability, to a difficulty in walking to a less developed brain.

In the past, doctors had to wait for a baby to be born, even up to a certain age, to be able to withstand interventions on vertebrae. This procedure requires the doctor to close the cracked vertebrae and poke a catheter into the inside to drain the accumulated medullary fluid if any.

Waiting for the baby to be born will prolong the risk of serious injury to the baby, especially in the last 3 months of pregnancy. Therefore, doctors in the UK have chosen the surgery as soon as possible, right from the time the baby was born. Basically, it is a double surgery, surgery to cross the uterus.

"Intrauterine surgery involves opening the mother's uterus, undergoing fetal surgery to see spina bifida without awakening the baby, closing the crack and then stitching the uterus to continue the fetus. safe development inside, "said surgeon Jan Deprest from University College College London.

"The closure of fetal spinal fissures in the womb using this method is an alternative to postpartum surgery, and has been shown to improve outcomes for children in the short and medium term".

This intrauterine surgery was developed in the US 20 years ago.

In fact, this intrauterine surgery technique has been developed in the US 20 years ago. Doctors at Children's Hospital Philadelphia have successfully operated for a 23-week-old fetus in the womb.

Today, this process does not change much. After intrauterine surgery, the fetus will develop for another 10 weeks, until the caesarean section is performed at the 37th week of age.

Trans-cervical surgery to treat spina bifida for the fetus has previously been successfully performed in the US, Belgium and Switzerland. But in the UK, these are the first two surgeries. Previously, English women with children with this disorder often had to go to Belgium to carry out the procedure.