Since its establishment in 2010, The Fetal Care Center has cared for hundreds of families facing fetal anomaly diagnoses in a compassionate and supportive environment. The Fetal Care Center has now been accepted into the North American Fetal Therapy Network (NAFTNet), a group of 28 medical centers in the United States and Canada that perform advanced in-utero fetal therapeutic procedures.

Physicians at these fetal treatment centers practice in both academic and clinical environments, and specialize in fields such as maternal-fetal medicine, pediatric surgery, neonatology, pediatric cardiology and fetal ultrasound. NAFTNet is an association of medical centers in the United States and Canada with established expertise in fetal surgery and other forms of multidisciplinary care for complex disorders of the fetus. One of the primary goals of the organization is to promote collaboration between member centers to foster research in the field of fetal therapy.

“We are extremely proud of The Fetal Care Center’s acceptance into NAFTNet,” says Fetal Care Center co-director, Lisa Bernhard, MD, a Washington University obstetrician and gynecologist. “We strive to provide exceptional care to each of our families dealing with fetal anomalies. The care we offer is only enhanced by the cooperation of multiple institutions, and we look forward to collaborating with the medical centers included in NAFTNet’s membership.”

The Fetal Care Center, a partnership between Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, is the only comprehensive center in the Midwest that offers a fully integrated patient experience in advanced fetal diagnostics, fetal surgical interventions before and after birth, and newborn medicine — all on one medical campus.