Comprehensive Fetal Care for the Most Complex Cases.
World-class services for mom and baby.
The UHealth Jackson Fetal Care Center, located in The Women’s Hospital at Jackson Memorial, is an international leader in fetal health. Led by world-renowned fetal surgeon Dr. Rodrigo Ruano, our multi-disciplinary team of maternal-fetal experts and pediatric specialists handle the most complex cases prioritizing both mom and baby.
Fetal surgery and intervention can often be offered for severe congenital anomalies in order to treat babies prior to birth. This helps improve the long-term outcome of children with specific birth defects with procedures performed on an unborn baby in the uterus. Congenital anomalies are usually identified around 20 weeks of pregnancy during the recommended fetal anatomy scan. Once diagnosed, it’s important to evaluate early intervention options. Our multidisciplinary team can offer the best treatment options with many specialists coming together using the latest technology and techniques.
Driven by academic research from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, our experts serve two to three times more patients with clinically complex conditions than any other maternal-fetal medicine program in South Florida. Today, we’re the leader in perinatal and fetal medicine in this community.
Description
The UHealth Jackson Fetal Care Center, located in The Women’s Hospital at Jackson Memorial, is an international leader in fetal health. Led by world-renowned fetal surgeon Dr. Rodrigo Ruano, our multi-disciplinary team of maternal-fetal experts and pediatric specialists handle the most complex cases prioritizing both mom and baby.
Fetal surgery and intervention can often be offered for severe congenital anomalies in order to treat babies prior to birth. This helps improve the long-term outcome of children with specific birth defects with procedures performed on an unborn baby in the uterus. Congenital anomalies are usually identified around 20 weeks of pregnancy during the recommended fetal anatomy scan. Once diagnosed, it’s important to evaluate early intervention options. Our multidisciplinary team can offer the best treatment options with many specialists coming together using the latest technology and techniques.
Driven by academic research from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, our experts serve two to three times more patients with clinically complex conditions than any other maternal-fetal medicine program in South Florida. Today, we’re the leader in perinatal and fetal medicine in this community.
When You Choose Us, You Benefit From:
A Family-Centered Approach
Evidence-Based Treatment Plans Informed by Research
Comprehensive Team of Experts from a Number of Specialties
Access to the Most Advanced Intervention Procedures
Coordinated Care from Diagnosis and Pre-Birth Interventions, to Delivery and Beyond
Twin-To-Twin Transfusion Syndrome
Hear from Jennifer Falcon, maternity patient, and, Rodrigo Ruano, MD, PhD, maternal and fetal medicine surgeon, on the life-saving fetal intervention that saved her twin’s lives. Dr. Ruano is the director of the UHealth Jackson Fetal Care Center, and division chief of UHealth Jackson Maternal-Fetal Medicine at The Women’s Hospital at Jackson Memorial. His clinical efforts focus on developing and investigating new minimally invasive fetal therapies, such as fetal endoscopic tracheal occlusion for congenital diaphragmatic hernia, fetal cystoscopy for fetal bladder obstruction, in utero repair of fetal spina bifida, and fetoscopic laser ablation for twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome.
Fetal Conditions We Treat.
Lower Urinary Tract Obstruction
Lower urinary tract obstruction is when a baby’s urine flow is blocked, causing urine to accumulate inside the bladder. As a result, urine returns to the kidneys, potentially causing severe damage. Due to the lack of urine production, amniotic fluid can deplete and affect the baby’s lung development.
Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia
Congenital diaphragmatic hernia is a hole in a baby’s diaphragm. As a result, the baby’s stomach, bowel, and occasionally liver can move to the chest, compressing the lungs and potentially preventing further development.
Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome
Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome is a rare condition that affects identical twins or other multiples. Because these twins or multiples share a placenta, they also share a network of blood vessels. In 10 to 15 percent of these cases, the blood flow between the babies is unbalanced, meaning one gets more blood than the other does.
Spina Bifida
Spina bifida, or myelomeningocele, is an opening in a baby’s back that lets amniotic fluid into the spinal cord. This can lead to hydrocephalus, which is a buildup of fluid in the cavities deep within the brain.
In addition to the four major areas of treatment, our team also has expertise in treating other fetal conditions, including:
- Amniotic band syndrome
- Bronchopulmonary sequestration of the lung
- Congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation of the lung
- Congenital high airway obstruction syndrome
- Fetal anemia
- Fetal cardiac abnormalities
- Fetal endoscopic tracheal occlusion
- Mediastinal teratoma
- Neck mass
- Sacrococcygeal teratoma
- Twin anemia-polycythemia sequence
- Twin reversed arterial perfusion sequence
Description
In addition to the four major areas of treatment, our team also has expertise in treating other fetal conditions, including:
- Amniotic band syndrome
- Bronchopulmonary sequestration of the lung
- Congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation of the lung
- Congenital high airway obstruction syndrome
- Fetal anemia
- Fetal cardiac abnormalities
- Fetal endoscopic tracheal occlusion
- Mediastinal teratoma
- Neck mass
- Sacrococcygeal teratoma
- Twin anemia-polycythemia sequence
- Twin reversed arterial perfusion sequence
If you are a physician and would like to discuss your patient’s condition, call 305-585-4636 Option 1.
Description
If you are a physician and would like to discuss your patient’s condition, call 305-585-4636 Option 1.
A Message for Mothers
For pregnancies that face challenges, our experts in maternal, fetal, and neonatal medicine from The Women’s Hospital at Jackson Memorial and Holtz Children’s Hospital are ready to care for you and your family. If your baby needs additional support, our staff is specially trained in meeting the developmental and medical needs of premature and high-risk newborns. The Schatzi and Stanley Kassal Project: Newborn Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Holtz Children’s is a Level IV NICU and boasts some of the best survival rates and outcomes in the country.
Our multidisciplinary approach means you and your baby benefit from the collaboration of our highly trained and experienced specialists. These include fetal surgeons, maternal-fetal medicine doctors, geneticists, neonatologists, pediatric surgeons, pediatric neurosurgeons, pediatric nephrologists, pediatric urologists, pediatric cardiologists, maternal and pediatric anesthesiologists, pediatric cardiac surgeons, obstetricians, nurses, social workers, and more.
If you are pregnant and want to be referred for an evaluation, have your doctor’s office contact our fetal care coordinator at 305-585-4636 Option 1.
A Message for Mothers
For pregnancies that face challenges, our experts in maternal, fetal, and neonatal medicine from The Women’s Hospital at Jackson Memorial and Holtz Children’s Hospital are ready to care for you and your family. If your baby needs additional support, our staff is specially trained in meeting the developmental and medical needs of premature and high-risk newborns. The Schatzi and Stanley Kassal Project: Newborn Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Holtz Children’s is a Level IV NICU and boasts some of the best survival rates and outcomes in the country.
Our multidisciplinary approach means you and your baby benefit from the collaboration of our highly trained and experienced specialists. These include fetal surgeons, maternal-fetal medicine doctors, geneticists, neonatologists, pediatric surgeons, pediatric neurosurgeons, pediatric nephrologists, pediatric urologists, pediatric cardiologists, maternal and pediatric anesthesiologists, pediatric cardiac surgeons, obstetricians, nurses, social workers, and more.
If you are pregnant and want to be referred for an evaluation, have your doctor’s office contact our fetal care coordinator at 305-585-4636 Option 1.
Holtz Children’s Hospital is home to one of the largest neonatal intensive care units in the nation, and boasts some of the best survival rates and most successful outcomes in the country. We are known worldwide for leading-edge research to improve neonatal care. We are the only academic medical center in South Florida that can provide care for both high-risk pregnancies and premature or high-risk newborns at the same institution.
Fetal Surgeon, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology
Director, UHealth Jackson Fetal Care Center
Division Chief, UHealth Jackson Maternal-Fetal Medicine
A native Brazilian, Dr. Ruano earned his medical degree and completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil. He completed a maternal-fetal medicine and fetal surgery fellowship at the University of Paris in France.
Dr. Ruano has authored more than 250 peer-reviewed articles and 50 book chapters pertaining to maternal-fetal medicine, prenatal detection of congenital anomalies, 3D/4D fetal ultrasonography, and fetal surgery. He has presented more than 100 abstracts, and has earned more than a dozen medical honors in the United States and internationally.
At the University of Paris, Dr. Ruano learned how to perform laser therapy for twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS). He also learned how to apply shunts for fluid buildup in the fetal chest (pleural effusions) and for lower urinary tract obstruction (LUTO), as well as how to perform fetal blood transfusions and fetal endoscopic tracheal occlusion (FETO) for congenital diaphragmatic hernias (CDH).
Dr. Ruano became internationally known for using fetal cystoscopies to successfully treat his patients for LUTO, FETO, and CDH, bringing his extensive knowledge to the United States in 2010.
Today, Dr. Ruano is a world-class physician who is invested in providing infants and their mothers the best possible outcomes. He is known for using fetal cystoscopy to treat LUTO, FETO, and CDH, as well as for treating patients with TTTS and spina bifida.
Fetal Surgeon, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology
Director, UHealth Jackson Fetal Care Center
Division Chief, UHealth Jackson Maternal-Fetal Medicine
A native Brazilian, Dr. Ruano earned his medical degree and completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil. He completed a maternal-fetal medicine and fetal surgery fellowship at the University of Paris in France.
Dr. Ruano has authored more than 250 peer-reviewed articles and 50 book chapters pertaining to maternal-fetal medicine, prenatal detection of congenital anomalies, 3D/4D fetal ultrasonography, and fetal surgery. He has presented more than 100 abstracts, and has earned more than a dozen medical honors in the United States and internationally.
At the University of Paris, Dr. Ruano learned how to perform laser therapy for twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS). He also learned how to apply shunts for fluid buildup in the fetal chest (pleural effusions) and for lower urinary tract obstruction (LUTO), as well as how to perform fetal blood transfusions and fetal endoscopic tracheal occlusion (FETO) for congenital diaphragmatic hernias (CDH).
Dr. Ruano became internationally known for using fetal cystoscopies to successfully treat his patients for LUTO, FETO, and CDH, bringing his extensive knowledge to the United States in 2010.
Today, Dr. Ruano is a world-class physician who is invested in providing infants and their mothers the best possible outcomes. He is known for using fetal cystoscopy to treat LUTO, FETO, and CDH, as well as for treating patients with TTTS and spina bifida.
Featured Blog
UHealth Jackson Fetal Care Team Offers In-utero Surgery for Rare Conditions
Fetal surgery is a highly specialized and complex field of medicine that offers surgical interventions to repair or treat birth defects in the womb.
We spoke with Rodrigo Ruano, MD, PhD, director of the UHealth Jackson Fetal Care Center and division chief of UHealth Jackson Maternal-Fetal Medicine, to learn more about fetal surgery and the specialized care his team offers unborn babies and their mothers.
Fetal Care Center Location
Fetal Care Center Location
The Women’s Hospital | Jackson Memorial
1611 NW 12th Ave., East Tower, Miami, FL, 33136
Open 24 hours
The Women’s Hospital | Jackson Memorial
1611 NW 12th Ave., East Tower, Miami, FL, 33136
Open 24 hours
