Doctors operate on baby inside mom’s womb

Bethan Simpson was midway through her pregnancy — and was becoming increasingly excited to meet her daughter for the first time.

The 26-year-old mother, from Burnham, Essex, in England, had heard her baby’s heartbeat and had been watching her grow on sonogram scans. She had started feeling the baby move inside her belly. And she was hunting for the perfect name.

But during a routine 20-week scan late last year, Simpson learned something was wrong: Her unborn child had spina bifida, a birth defect in which the spine and spinal cord do not properly develop in the womb.

Doctors talked to her about her options: She could terminate the pregnancy or deliver a baby who would need treatment to repair the lesion. Or they could do surgery on the unborn child — something that has been done many times in the United States, but only a handful of times in the United Kingdom.

During the operation, surgeons in London would cut open Simpson’s womb, repair the lesion on the baby’s spine and then close it all up and wait for her to enter the world on her own time.

Scott Adzick, surgeon-in-chief of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said fetal surgery is not a cure for spina bifida but that it has been shown to dramatically improve the outcome in patients with the condition.

After extensive testing, Simpson — and her baby — underwent fetal surgery for spina bifida Jan. 8 at University College Hospital in London, she said. Days later, she posted a message on Facebook, announcing: “We were a success.”

More than a month after the operation, Simpson said she does not know what challenges lie ahead for her, her husband and their daughter, who is due to arrive in April. And the baby’s name? Simpson said she and her husband decided to name their daughter Elouise, which means “healthy,” among other things.

“Kinda suited,” she said.