At 17 weeks in his mother's womb, Elijah was far too small. His umbilical cord was extremely thin. He had fetal growth restriction and, worst of all, he was donating most of his blood and nutrients to his identical twin, Jakoby — a symptom of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS).
Sadly, TTTS is a little-known condition, and often goes undetected until it's too late. But the Ontario Fetal Centre (OFC) at Mount Sinai Hospital successfully performed an in-utero surgery that saved the twins' lives.
Without access to highly skilled professionals experienced in performing in-utero surgeries, Elijah would not have survived.
Mount Sinai Hospital is one of the world's leading centres for routine and high-risk mother and baby care, and sees more high-risk pregnancies than any hospital in the Greater Toronto Area. The OFC at Mount Sinai is the first comprehensive fetal medicine centre in Canada. It also houses one of the largest maternal-fetal medicine training programs in the world, sharing expertise with physicians from across Canada and around the world to ensure greater access to these lifesaving surgeries for families everywhere.
With expanded access to in-utero surgeries, countless families could be spared the heartbreak of losing a child.
While we've made strides in fetal health care, we need your support to increase the range of conditions we can treat with fetal surgery, and to train more physicians to perform these delicate surgeries. Sign your name to pledge your support for greater access to cutting-edge in-utero surgeries that save lives and create happy, healthy families.
