In Utero Pediatrics: Research & Practice

Two types of doctors are engaged in fetal medicine in Europe and North America: obstetricians who have received subspecialty training in maternal-fetal medicine/fetal medicine, and pediatric surgeons who are specialized inintrauterine fetal and neonatal surgeries. Given the diversity of fetal diseases and the limitation of available technologies, few fetal diseases can be treated and operated in utero; on the other hand, most of these disorders are diagnosed in utero at early stage and managed at certain developmental stages after birth, requiring the involvement of pediatricians and pediatric surgeons. Hence, the fetal medicine subspecialists must cooperate with the specialists and subspecialists in pediatrics and pediatric surgery, since an abnormality may be noted in any organ and system of the fetus.
From the perspective of the specialists in obstetrics, maternal-fetal medicine, and fetal medicine, this discipline should be defined as “fetal medicine”; from the pediatricians’ viewpoint, it should be termed as “in utero pediatrics.” I am very glad to find that pediatricians are paying more attention to fetal diseases. In addition, it is also encouraging to see that Professor Kun Sun has proposed the concept of “in utero pediatrics” and led the compilation of this monograph. Regardless of whether it is from an obstetric or a pediatric lens, the fundamental principle is the same: “fetus as patient.”