In some cases, high-risk pregnancies require fetal interventions or other highly specialized care to ensure the health of both mother and baby. As one of the few comprehensive fetal care programs worldwide, our Fetal Care Center is committed to improving outcomes for high-risk pregnancies and enhancing the long-term quality of life for every baby we treat. We evaluate, diagnose, and treat, if necessary, a mother and baby together and return them to the care of their physician as quickly as possible.
Our Fetal Care Center was specifically designed by doctors, nurses, and patients to provide the latest technologies and offer a warm, comforting environment to meet the individual needs of our patients.
Pregnancy is a time of excitement, stress and anticipation. Adding a maternal health issue or fetal condition to an already emotional time can be overwhelming. At the Fetal Care Center at Cleveland Clinic, our team approaches your pregnancy complication with compassion and expertise. Our goal is to achieve the best possible outcome for both mother and baby while offering you the support and information you need.
Our coordinated program is designed to address the complex needs of families facing rare fetal and or maternal disorders in pregnancy. We offer state-of-the-art techniques for fetal diagnosis and intervention Our family-centered approach involves you in decision-making from the time of referral into our program to the time of your discharge. Continued support and resources are offered after the delivery of your baby.
Our team is committed to providing state-of-the-art maternal-fetal care and warm, personalized attention, whether a patient participates in an extended course of treatment or visits just once for a consultation. We strive to make patient appointments comprehensive, conducting all necessary testing and providing results and available treatment options all on the same day. Patients can spend as much time as needed with our fetal care physicians to obtain counseling and support. The counseling approach is non-directive, providing patients with the information needed to make informed decisions that work best for them. We work in partnership with patients and their referring physicians, and sincerely appreciate the opportunity to assist with their healthcare needs.
Multidisciplinary team
The Fetal Care Center at Cleveland Clinic works as a team of teams. Specialists from all disciplines including maternal-fetal medicine, neonatology, fetal and pediatric general and thoracic surgery, pediatric cardiology, genetics, radiology, pediatric and obstetric anesthesiology, pediatric neurosurgery and many others work together to provide integrated and comprehensive care for all maternal and fetal conditions that benefit from specialized treatment during the pregnancy and afterward. The Cleveland Clinic is one of only a few centers in the world that provides the full continuum of care from conception through adulthood.
Special Delivery Unit (SDU)
The program's centerpiece is the Special Delivery Unit, the first U.S. facility designed to provide specialized care for both mothers and newborns with serious medical issues. From initial consultation through delivery and the postpartum period, the Special Delivery Unit team offers support and coordinated services for both mom and baby. As part of the Fetal Care Center, the Special Delivery Unit provides moms, unborn babies and newborns advanced diagnostic and treatment options from fetal MRI and in utero intervention, to immediate newborn surgery. And, a full spectrum of sub-specialty care is available to moms with serious diseases that may complicate labor and delivery. The SDU has labor and delivery suites, triage, and a full operating room. There is also a state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization lab across the hall for those newborns requiring immediate help for a life-threatening heart abnormality.
Traveling to Cleveland Clinic Children's?
When your child is sick, you want the best pediatric care. Every year, thousands of families come to Cleveland Clinic Children's for everything from checkups to life-changing procedures. Wherever you are on your journey, our team is here for you. Learn more.
Cleveland Clinic performs spina bifida surgery in utero. Spina bifida is a condition where the baby’s spinal column doesn’t form properly. The surgery involves opening up the mother’s abdomen and making a 2-inch incision in her uterus. Through that incision, a neurosurgeon can operate on the fetus’s spine.
The Fetal Care Center offers services relating to maternal and fetal health concerns during pregnancy. Conditions we address are including but not limited to the following:
This advanced technique offers significant benefits, including reduced maternal risks, shorter recovery times, and a lower risk of preterm birth, while achieving improved neurological outcomes for the baby. By repairing the defect in utero using state-of-the-art fetoscopic methods, we aim to optimize the baby’s quality of life while ensuring maternal safety. Our multidisciplinary team—including specialists in pediatric surgery, maternal-fetal medicine, pediatric neurosurgery, and fetal anesthesia—is dedicated to delivering exceptional care and advancing innovation in fetal surgery.
Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) and amniocentesis prenatal screening and diagnosis.
Fetal Care coordinators partner with you from the time of referral through your postpartum period. We offer emotional support, education, and assistance in scheduling visits. We also serve as a liaison between you and the members of your care team.
Our multi-disciplinary team of specialists meets on a regular basis to review each case and intentionally develop individualized plans for each family. Additional consultations and care are available from specialists in perinatal genetics, bioethics, child-life, lactation consultation, social work, and when needed, palliative care, hospice and perinatal bereavement counseling.
Should your child have an abbreviated life expectancy, we will walk by your side throughout even the most difficult of journeys. Cleveland Clinic's Fetal Care Center and our Cleveland Clinic Children's Pediatric Palliative Medicine team focus together on family-centered perinatal hospice care as we work with you to preserve hope while preparing you for birth and your time together as a family.
Gastroschisis Outcomes of Delivery Study (GOOD study)
The Gastroschisis Outcomes Of Delivery (GOOD) Study is a current gastroschisis research opportunity available at Cleveland Clinic. The purpose of the study is to determine the best care for babies with gastroschisis. Currently, the two standard delivery options are to induce a mother at 35 weeks or carry to observed delivery with a goal of 38 weeks. It is not known which of these two commonly used delivery plans is best. This study will help compare the two options to figure out which delivery timing maximizes treatment for both mother and baby.
The North American Fetal Therapy Network (NAFTNet) has approved and supported the GOOD Study. The GOOD Study has been designed by NAFTNet doctors specializing in maternal-fetal medicine, neonatology, and pediatric surgery. Mothers having a baby with gastroschisis may be eligible for participation in this study. Please contact our team to learn more about the study or request information about becoming a participant.
Find helpful posts from Cleveland Clinic's site for physicians and healthcare professionals. Discover the latest fetal surgery research insights, innovations, treatment trends and more:
“The diagnosis has unearthed some other conditions we had suspected we can now address. But on a personal level, it has become life changing. I had never met any other parents who are going through what we’re facing, and knowing others who can relate is a huge part of the journey with rare disease.”
