C.S. Mott Children's Hospital

As Marguerita Booth had never heard of a child being born with their organs on the outside of their body. And yet as she lay in the darkened room of her first ultrasound of her first pregnancy, she was suddenly introduced to a condition that surprisingly affects 1 in every 3600 babies.

Like many newborns, Logan and Connor had mild jaundice after birth. Connor’s cleared within weeks, but at nine weeks, Logan’s yellow skin and eyes still worried Amy and Nick.

During a scan, Johana’s OB/GYN discovered a rare defect called situs inversus, where the baby’s organs were reversed, along with serious complications affecting the heart, lungs, spleen, and intestines.

Imaging revealed Carter had spina bifida, a serious spinal defect. Instead of surgery after birth, Michigan Medicine performed the operation before he was born.

At 10, Akylah Marshall was a typical preteen—until November 2019, when severe vomiting and a rapidly swelling abdomen signaled something was seriously wrong.

A few months after turning three, things took a downward turn for Dominic when he started having what his mother would describe as seizure activity.

Kristi Brown’s first pregnancy had been going even better than she hoped. But at week 20, an ultrasound revealed unexpected news: her baby had spina bifida.