Texas Children's Fetal Center Celebrates with Past Patients

Families who received care for complications during pregnancy and fetal anomalies share heartfelt stories and memories at 3rd Fetal Center Reunion

HOUSTON, Nov. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Families from across the country came to Texas Children's Hospital on Saturday, November 12th to reunite with doctors and nurses during the Texas Children's Fetal Center's 3rd reunion.  For many kids, this was their first face-to-face chance to thank the doctors and nurses who saved their lives before they were born. 

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"This is a very special event for everyone involved in the Fetal Center," said Dr. Oluyinka Olutoye, co-director of Texas Children's Fetal Center and associate professor, department of Pediatric Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine. "Our staff rarely has the chance to meet the babies we've helped save, so the reunion is a wonderful time for us to get to know these little ones and see the joy they've brought to their parents."

Over 200 people attended the event, which the Fetal Center has hosted every two years since 2007. While some patients returned to celebrate the Center's impact on their lives for the third time, others made the trip back to the hospital for the first time since their life-saving in-utero surgery.

"It was an emotional day for all of us," said Amber Cessac, a patient who underwent surgery at the Center in 2011.  "We are forever grateful for everything the staff did to save our babies' lives and we really enjoyed celebrating with other families who've had similar experiences."  

All current and former Fetal Center patients and their families were invited to the event, which took place from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Clinical Care Center at Texas Children's Hospital.  The affair included rodeo clowns, guest speakers, an interactive DJ, a family photo booth, play dough station and crafts such as sunglass decorating and spin art.

To conclude the event, attendees took a celebratory group photo, which can be found on the Maternal and Fetal Center's Facebook page at facebook/texaschildrensfetalcenter.com.

Texas Children's Fetal Center was founded in 2003 by co-directors Cass and Olutoye and is one of the few centers in the United Stated to provide the full spectrum of fetal therapies.  Comprehensive services include: management of high risk or complex pregnancies, multiple births, genetics counseling, fetal diagnostic and intervention therapies and specialized fetal and neonatal surgeries.  The Center is one of the nation's leaders in providing high-risk maternal care and the diagnosis and treatment of abnormalities in unborn and newborn infants including twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, giant lung and neck masses, congenital heart disease and congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Since 2007, over 2100 patients, who come from all over the world, have been evaluated at the center. Texas Children's Fetal Center recently moved and is now open on the Pavilion's fourth floor,

To learn more about the Fetal Center Reunion please visit http://www.familyreunion.texaschildrens.org/. For more information on Texas Children's Fetal Center, visit http://www.texaschildrens.org/carecenters/fetalsurgery/default.aspx .

About Texas Children's Hospital

Texas Children's Hospital, a not-for-profit organization, is committed to creating a community of healthy children through excellence in patient care, education and research. Consistently ranked among the top children's hospitals in the nation, Texas Children's has recognized Centers of Excellence in multiple pediatric subspecialties including the Cancer and Heart Centers, and operates the largest primary pediatric care network in the country. Texas Children's is completing a $1.5 billion expansion, which includes the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute; Texas Children's Pavilion for Women, a comprehensive obstetrics/gynecology facility focusing on high-risk births; and Texas Children's Hospital West Campus, a community hospital in suburban West Houston.  For more information on Texas Children's, go to www.texaschildrens.org. Get the latest news from Texas Children's by visiting the online newsroom and on Twitter at twitter.com/texaschildrens.

Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link 
Darrell Cass
https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=98888

Oluyinka Olutoye
https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=98889

CONTACT: Christy Brunton, +1-832-824-2645, [email protected]

SOURCE Texas Children's Hospital