Maddi Vance will never forget the moment the pink confetti exploded before her.
Shock and excitement washed over her as the rose-colored cloud revealed the news she and her husband had been hoping for: a baby girl on the way, completing their family of four—one boy and one girl.
After several months of trying to conceive, it felt like an answered prayer.
But that joy shifted quickly to fear during Maddi’s 20-week anatomy scan.
She remembers the ultrasound technician growing unusually quiet. Moments later, Maddi’s obstetrician, Kathleen Langer, MD, came in with difficult news.
There were signs of spina bifida—a neural tube defect that occurs when the spinal column does not close completely during early development. The condition can affect mobility and bladder and bowel function. It can also lead to hydrocephalus—a build-up of fluid in the brain that frequently requires placement of a shunt, a small tube that drains excess fluid.
Maddi and her husband were referred immediately to a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, who confirmed the diagnosis.
A New Option with New Hope
“It was devastating,” Maddi recalls. “I felt heartbroken for her—and, honestly, for my son too. I just kept thinking about how much our lives were going to change.”
But Maddi’s first appointment brought a sense of unexpected calm and hope.
“It's definitely a lot of information for families to absorb,” says Martha Monson, MD, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at
University of Utah Health and Intermountain Health Primary Children’s Hospital. “The most important thing for families to understand is that with spina bifida, every baby comes to us in a different place.”
Monson walked Maddi through the diagnosis, possible outcomes, and treatment options. Then she explained something else—a fetal surgery that could be performed during pregnancy.
Fetoscopic spina bifida repair is a new procedure offered at the Grant Scott Bonham Fetal Center, a collaboration between Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital and the University of Utah Health. If eligible, Maddi would become the fourth patient in the state to undergo it. Through small incisions in the uterus, surgeons use a camera and specialized instruments to close the baby’s spinal defect before birth.
Although the procedure is not a cure, it can help protect the spinal cord from further damage.
Research has shown that repairing the defect before birth can reduce the need for a shunt and improve motor outcomes compared with surgery after delivery.
“I didn’t hesitate, I just wanted to give her the best chance.”
A Challenging Recovery—and a Strong Baby Girl
In July 2025, Maddi and her baby underwent a successful surgery. But with it came some challenges.
“It was honestly the hardest six weeks ever,” Maddi says. “I was recovering from an incision on my belly while still growing a baby.”
As the baby grew, pressure on the healing uterus increased. Then, at 34 weeks, Maddi’s amniotic fluid suddenly dropped due to a slow leak. She was admitted and induced the same day.
After laboring overnight, Maddi delivered a healthy baby girl, Jaycie—a strong preterm infant weighing 5 pounds, 15 ounces.
Looking Toward the Future
Now five months old, Jaycie is smiling and laughing. She moves her legs, though not as strongly as many infants her age. It’s still too early to know what her long-term mobility will look like, but early signs are promising.
“The fetal MRI showed that Jaycie's brain responded beautifully to the surgery,” Monson says. “We saw all the changes that we wanted to see.”
Jaycie has not yet developed hydrocephalus or required a shunt—one of the key goals of prenatal repair.
“I really think those six weeks after the surgery mattered,” Maddi says. “She got to develop without that hole in her back.”
Maddi has no regrets about the surgery.
“I’d do it again tomorrow, I just hope it gives Jaycie the best chance to grow and become everything she can be.”
Since Maddi and Jaycie’s surgery, six more families have undergone the procedure at the Grant Scott Bonham Fetal Center—bringing cutting-edge care closer to families throughout Utah and the Mountain West.
“Being able to offer these repairs is just an incredible service for children in our region,” Monson says. “On a personal level, it’s truly a privilege.”