Fetal treatment center: history, infrastructure, and nursing perspective

It is important to recognize that it is only during our lifetime, the last decades of the 20th century, that the fetus has become a patient, with much of the credit due to the powerful imaging and sampling techniques now available. The secret life of the fetus has been revealed and with it the details of normal fetal growth and development and the opportunity to identify, detect, and treat fetal anomalies surgically. From a nursing perspective, this article provides a historical overview of fetal treatment, including the development and evolution of fetal surgery, a description of some milestones of this multifaceted, complex area, a delineation of the components and dynamics of collaborative team management of fetal therapy patients, and finally an introduction to introduce emerging trends that will affect the future of this rapidly evolving field.