Can my child have a normal life with spina bifida? i just found out with prenatal tests that my baby has a severe form of spina bifida. he will most likely be paralyzed. i want to have him anyway, but im scared his life will be too hard.

First, : First, every child is a blessing, and quality of life is what you make of it. Second, it's difficult to determine the severity of deficit on the basis of a prenatal ultrasound. With a team-oriented approach to care, children with spina bifida can do very well. One of my personal friends is the chair of neurosurgery at the university of michigan medical center in ann arbor, and she has spina bifida also. Your baby will likely need surgery within the first view days of life to close the defect with skin to prevent infection. Your baby may also need a ventriculo-peritoneal or ventriculo-subgaleal shunt - another operation. Children with spina bifida also have varying degrees of kidney and bowel problems as they get older depending on the severity of the deficit. Since your location is given as rochester, ny, you might want to get in touch with dr howard silberstein, the pediatric neurosurgeon at strong memorial hospital, which has a comprehensive program for children with spina bifida.

No: With severe spina bifida he will if diagnoses as you have and an ultrasound confirms it then immediate surgery will be required to close the rural canal.Then dependent on the level this will dictate his functionality and his ambulatory capability. This unfortunately can not be diagnosed until birth, but he will have certain limitations and functional limitations in terms of use of his legs.