Today, there are some diseases in which treatment in the womb gives the unborn child a better chance of life than intervention after birth. Also, in-utero treatment is usually accompanied by fewer possible problems with the child’s health in the long term. In the case of such diseases, in-utero treatment (fetal therapy) should be considered as a priority treatment option. In situations where the superiority of in-utero treatment over treatment after birth still cannot be fully proven scientifically, fetal therapy is considered experimental and is not offered as a standard treatment option.

In-utero treatment is carried out by an injection of medications sometimes into the mother’s body and its subsequent entry into the child’s body through the placenta (transplacental treatment), sometimes into the umbilical cord of the child, and sometimes into the fluid in which it is located (amniotic fluid). In cases where an in-utero treatment is required, it is performed in the form of open surgery and sometimes endoscopic (fetoscopic) surgery.

Thanks to intrauterine treatment, babies can have an increased chance of being born healthy or with the least number of abnormalities. Such practices are also superior to postpartum surgery, and finally, these methods, which expose mother and baby to reasonable risks, still have an acceptable level of success.