World-leading fetal surgery program celebrates a landmark that reflects decades of innovation, research and improved outcomes for families.
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) announced today that it has set a new benchmark in fetal care for a condition once thought impossible to treat before birth: The Richard D. Wood Jr. Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment (CFDT) performed its 500th prenatal repair for the most severe form of spina bifida, myelomeningocele (MMC).
Spina bifida affects about 1 in 2,000 babies born in the U.S. In MMC, the most common and severe form of spina bifida, the spine doesn’t fully form, leaving the spinal cord and nerves exposed to amniotic fluid, which can cause damage. In the past, surgery after birth was the only option, but today babies with MMC can have open fetal surgery before they’re born.
In 1998, CHOP researchers pioneered fetal surgery for spina bifida first in the lab and then with patients. Since that time, the Center has continued to improve the technique and publish on the practice, leading to significant advances. From 2003 to 2010, CHOP served as a lead site for the NIH-funded, Management of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS), which was published in The New England Journal of Medicine. This landmark trial established that in-utero correction halves the need for brain shunts and improves mobility compared to postnatal repair. This revolutionary work reshaped the standard of care through surgical innovation, team-based expertise, and ongoing research. The study, co-led by CHOP, went on to publish new findings in the follow-up known as “MOMS2: Follow up of the Management of Myelomeningocele Study.” CHOP is currently leading a second follow-up study, “Follow-up in the Teen and Young Adult Years to the Management of Myelomeningocele Study: MOMS3,” to continue to evaluate the original groups of patients who had prenatal or postnatal surgery.
For 30 years, the Center has led the evolution of fetal surgery for spina bifida, from pioneering the procedure and generating the evidence that changed clinical practice to continually advancing surgical techniques and caring for more families than any other fetal surgery program in the world. 500 prenatal repairs for spina bifida are a testament to the depth of experience that exists at the CFDT. More than 2,700 fetal surgeries have been performed in the Center, 500 of them being for MMC, the most of any fetal treatment program in the world.
During open prenatal repair, a team of highly specialized fetal surgeons makes an incision across the mother’s abdomen. A maternal-fetal medicine specialist uses ultrasound to locate the placenta and the fetus. The fetus’s back is rotated into view. The uterus is then opened. Fetal surgeons and a pediatric neurosurgeon repair the spina bifida by closing the tissue layers of the back in a water-tight manner, protecting the spina cord and nerves from neurotoxic amniotic fluid and also stopping leakage of cerebrospinal fluid through the defect which in turn leads to decreased risk of hydrocephalus and brain damage. The incisions in the uterus and the mother’s abdomen are then closed. While not a cure, studies of open fetal surgery show that fixing the hole in the spine prenatally can offer better results than the traditional approach of a postnatal repair.View this video to learn more about fetal surgery for spina bifida.
“Performing 500 fetal MMC repairs underscores CHOP’s position as the world’s leading fetal surgery center,” said N. Scott Adzick, MD, Co-Director of the CFDT. “The milestone reflects more than two decades of innovation, clinical excellence and research dedicated to improving outcomes for children with spina bifida.”
Since opening in 1995, the CFDT at CHOP has cared for more than 36,214 expectant parents from all 50 states and more than 70 countries. The center’s staff sees more patients and performs more fetal surgeries than any hospital in the world, managing thousands of pregnancies complicated by birth defects in which newborns need immediate specialized medical care or surgery after delivery. Babies who require such care are born in CHOP’s Garbose Family Special Delivery Unit (SDU), the world’s first birth facility in a pediatric hospital specifically designed for mothers carrying babies with birth defects.
A milestone story: one family’s path to CHOP
Cassandra Rodriguez and her husband, Corey, of Cecil County, Maryland, were already parents of two children and hoping for a third when they learned she was pregnant in November 2025. During a routine 20 week visit with her local Baltimore doctor, an ultrasound revealed spina bifida, and the couple was referred to the CFDT.
In March 2026, Cassandra and Corey traveled to Philadelphia for a comprehensive two-day evaluation with the Center to determine if they were candidates for fetal surgery. Cassandra qualified for the surgery and, days later, led by N. Scott Adzick, MD, founder and co-director of the CFDT, CHOP surgeons including Gregory Heuer, MD, director of Prenatal and Neonatal Surgery in CHOP’s Division of Neurosurgery and Jena Miller, MD, Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the co-director of the CFDT, along with a large, highly specialized team, operated on both mom and fetus, successfully repairing the opening in the unborn baby’s spine.
Cassandra remained in Philadelphia following surgery staying at the Ronald McDonald House, a “home-away-from-home,” for families with children being treated at nearby hospitals. Their son, Owen, was born three months after fetal surgery at term on June 22 in CHOP’s SDU. He has been doing well and on July 1, he was discharged and headed home.
“From our first phone call, we felt extremely supported and cared for,” said Cassandra. “That gave us so much peace walking into something so scary. This experience has changed how we parent – we’re more patient; we hold our kids a little tighter; and we don’t take ordinary days for granted. The support around us has made a huge difference.”
About Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia:
A non-profit, charitable organization, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation’s first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals, and pioneering major research initiatives, the hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country. The institution has a well-established history of providing advanced pediatric care close to home through its CHOP Care Network, which includes more than 50 primary care practices, specialty care and surgical centers, urgent care centers, and community hospital alliances throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. CHOP also operates the Middleman Family Pavilion and its dedicated pediatric emergency department in King of Prussia, the Behavioral Health and Crisis Center (including a 24/7 Crisis Response Center) and the Center for Advanced Behavioral Healthcare, a mental health outpatient facility. Its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit https://www.chop.edu.
Kaila Revello 610-457-5916
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SOURCE Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
