What is fetal medicine?

This is pregnancy care for the unborn fetus, where the baby has or is at risk of life threatening or disabling disease.

Examples of pregnancies with which we deal are those with abnormalities or infections, complicated multiple pregnancies
(eg placenta sharing, monochorionic twins or high order multiples) and those at high risk of extremely early delivery.

Examples of in utero surgery we have performed include:

• Aortic valvoplasty: the heart valve is dilated after an introducer is placed through the ventricle and up into the aorta,
  a principal blood vessel coming from the heart.
• In utero transfusion: for rhesus disease, parvovirus (an infection which can make the fetus seriously anaemic) and platelet disorders.
• Insertion of in utero shunts: a small flexible tube is placed in either the chest cavity, the bladder or another organ to prevent damage. This can be a life-saving procedure, particularly in some babies with massive fluid accumulation (hydrops).

In 2007 we cared for the Russian mother who delivered quintuplets, the first surviving set in the UK for over 10 years.

http://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/1834352.quintuplets_born_in_oxford/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-494130/The-fab-Couple-birth-healthy-quintuplets--despite-told-abort.html

http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/society/health/russian+woman+has+quins+in+uk/1051582