Just 22 weeks into her pregnancy, Helisabed found out that her developing baby had the most serious form of spina bifida, called myelomeningocele. With fetal spina bifida, the spinal cord, or neural tube, doesn’t fully close, and it herniates through the backbone and into the amniotic cavity. An intact spinal cord is vital for movement, bodily functions, and brain health. 

The good news? The team at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford could perform a cutting-edge in utero surgery to possibly save her baby from serious limitations later in life, proven successful in a national clinical trial called the Management of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS). Helisabed underwent a rigorous process to qualify because not every mom and every fetus are candidates. When she was offered the surgery, she didn’t hesitate.