Thanks to advances in medical technology, many conditions that can affect the health of your unborn baby can be diagnosed prior to birth. At the Advanced Fetal Care Center (AFCC), part of Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at ���ϸ����� Langone, our doctors provide the expert care needed to ensure the healthiest birth possible for you and your baby.

The AFCC provides a full spectrum of fetal interventions, including minimally invasive in utero procedures. We are one of the few centers in the Northeast that offers fetal surgery. Under the direction of Jose Peiro, MD, the AFCC serves as a referral destination for conditions in which a prenatal intervention may significantly alter outcomes.

Our coordinated, multidisciplinary team collaborates through every step of your care journey—from diagnosis to treatment options and next steps. Our center includes leading experts in maternal–fetal medicine, genetics, and diagnostic testing, as well as highly specialized pediatric experts in cardiology, general surgery, neurosurgery, cardiovascular surgery, plastic surgery, neonatology, urology, nephrology, and ear, nose, and throat care.

Our Services

During your first appointment, you’ll receive a maternal-fetal assessment and advanced diagnostic imaging to confirm the fetal diagnosis. Then, our team will meet with you to discuss a personalized care plan.

Some diagnoses may require delivery and immediate postnatal intervention at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital, where our dedicated fetal surgery and neonatal teams are available 24/7 for critical care and surgical management.

Not every patient may need immediate intervention. In these cases, families may continue routine obstetric care, and our AFCC team can coordinate with other ���ϸ����� Langone providers to ensure continuity of care throughout pregnancy and delivery.

Our goal is to ensure seamless, co-managed care between your entire team while providing families with access to advanced expertise and resources.

Prenatal Diagnosis

We use the latest diagnostic technology to determine the health of your unborn child, including three- and four-dimensional ultrasound, fetal MRI, and fetal echocardiogram starting as early as 11 weeks of pregnancy. Imaging services are available in New York City and on Long Island.

We offer prenatal testing, including fetal blood sampling, chorionic villus sampling, fetal tissue biopsy, amniocentesis, and fetoscopy, to evaluate the health of your baby. We also offer genetic screening for chromosomal abnormalities and other conditions that can be inherited from one or both parents.

Prenatal Treatments

Our providers help treat and manage several conditions that can be diagnosed before birth, including complications that can occur during twin pregnancies and developmental conditions that may affect your baby’s heart, lungs, abdominal wall, and other body systems. We perform the following procedures:

• Neural tube defect repairs (e.g., fetoscopic myelomeningocele repair)
• Fetal endoluminal tracheal occlusion (FETO) for severe congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH)
• Fetoscopic laser photocoagulation of placental vessels: a minimally invasive treatment that stops blood transfer between fetuses in twin pregnancies
• Ex utero intrapartum treatment, also known as EXIT procedure, to treat airway obstruction, severe lung lesions, and certain tumors
• Fetal shunt placement to treat urinary tract blockage or fluid buildup in the chest
• Amnioreduction to achieve a healthy amount of amniotic fluid
• Fetal injections of medications
• Fetal blood transfusion to treat anemia
• Selective reduction procedures including microwave ablation for TRAP sequence

Our team of neonatologists continue to care for your child after birth, providing immediate access to any additional treatment or therapies your child may need.

Nationally Recognized for Quality Care and Safety

We have received advanced perinatal care certification from The Joint Commission, recognizing our excellence in caring for pregnant people and newborns. Our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Tisch Hospital, along with our obstetric and maternal–fetal medicine services, have been designated by New York State as a Regional Perinatal Center, meaning our doctors provide the highest available level of care for high-risk pregnancies. In our Congenital Cardiovascular Care Unit, our doctors provide treatment for the most complex heart conditions, and our Pediatric Congenital Heart Program has the best risk-adjusted survival rate of any hospital in New York State.

���ϸ����� Langone is also a member center of the North American Fetal Therapy Network (NAFTNet), dedicated to advancing fetal therapy through collaboration, research, and education. Dr. Peiro serves as the chair of the NAFTNet Innovation Committee.

Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital is recognized as a Level 1 Children’s Surgery Center by the American College of Surgeons for providing the highest-quality surgical care for children. We are committed to personalizing the healthcare experience for every patient. The Sala Institute for Child and Family Centered Care leads this mission through support services and resilience programs, family partnership programs, and safety and quality initiatives that advance the health and wellbeing of children and families.

���ϸ����� Langone provides an integrated continuum of care—beginning with prenatal diagnosis and continuing through birth and childhood—and we ensure parents and babies receive safe, coordinated, and advanced care under one health system.

Research and Innovation

We are dedicated to advancing research that improves outcomes for pregnant patients and babies before and after birth. Our multidisciplinary teams collaborate on clinical studies and innovative technologies to better diagnose, monitor, and treat complex fetal conditions. We strive to set new standards in fetal medicine and share our findings to benefit families and providers worldwide.

Clinicians and researchers are actively working on establishing clinical research studies, including:

• Clinical Trial Phase I-II for Percutaneous Stitching Device to Close Membranes After Fetoscopy

Our translational research team’s projects include developing surgical models for fetal conditions such as congenital diaphragmatic hernia, myelomeningocele, gastroschisis, and hydrocephalus to understand the underlying mechanisms and identify treatments for these conditions.

Meet Our Team

Jose L. Peiro, MD, PhD
Director
Principal Investigator at ���ϸ����� Langone Fetal and Placental Research Lab

Justin Brandt, MD
Division Director, Maternal and Fetal Medicine
Fellowship Program Director, Obstetrics & Gynecology—Maternal Fetal Medicine

Martin Chavez, MD
Division Director, Maternal and Fetal Medicine, ���ϸ����� Langone Hospital—Long Island

Jason Fisher, MD
Chief, Division of Pediatric Surgery
Director, Children’s Surgical Services at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital
Surgical Director, Neonatal and Pediatric ECMO Program
Director, Adult and Pediatric ECMO Fellowship
Director, Clinical Informatics, Department of Surgery

Erin Lonergan
Nurse Coordinator

Contact Us

If you are a physician who would like to refer a patient, or a pregnant person who has received a diagnosis at another hospital and would like to refer yourself, please call 844-���ϸ�����-4MFM (866-698-4636) or email FetalCare@���ϸ�����Langone.org.