A baby girl who went under the knife while in the womb to treat and prevent a birth defect is now thriving at home.
Allee Mullen was 20 weeks pregnant when doctors diagnosed her daughter with spina bifida, a severe birth defect that occurs when the spinal cord doesn't form properly.
Doctors at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, discussed all the options with Mullen and her husband, including in-utero surgery that could preserve neurological function better than a surgery after delivery.
So, in January, surgeons performed one of the first operations in the US to close the spinal column with the baby still in the womb.
There were no complications and Mullen gave birth at 33 weeks.
She was so grateful that she named her baby girl Emery Greene after the two doctors that treated her, Dr Stephen Emery and Dr Stephanie Greene.
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Allee Mullen, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was 20 weeks pregnant when her daughter was diagnosed with spina bifida. Pictured: Mullen, center, holding baby Emery Greene and flanked by Dr Stephen Emery, left, and Dr Stephanie Greene, right
Spina bifida is a birth defect that occurs when the spinal cord doesn't form properly, which can cause walking and mobility problems. Pictured: Emery Green shortly after birth
'We found at my 20-week ultrasound. It was our anatomy scan that day,' Mullen told DailyMail.com.'
'It was a devastating feeling. It's devastating because you don't know what to expect.'
Spina bifida is a defect of the neural tube, a structure from which the brain and spinal cord form.
It normally closes early in pregnancy. But, in those with spina bifida, the neural tube fails to develop or properly close.
This leaves the spine and the nerves susceptible to trauma and damage.
The condition's symptoms can range from mild to severe, and can leave sufferers with physical and intellectual disabilities.
Children often suffer from walking and mobility problems due to weak muscles or nerves in the legs not working properly.
They can also experience bowel and bladder problems, difficulty breathing and swallowing, and a have higher risk of wounds.
'In the third world, this is a lethal diagnosis and [children] die,' Dr Stephen Emery, director of the Center for Innovative Fetal Intervention at UPMC Magee, told DailyMail.com.
'In the developed world, you can close
