Twice Born - Stories from the Special Delivery Unit

The premiere episode sets the stage for the intense and emotional stories to come. Dr. Scott Adzick, Surgeon-in-Chief at the elite Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and a pioneer of fetal surgery, explains his own conviction: if you can get to babies earlier, while they are still inside their mothers, you can stop some of the damage of birth defects before it is too late.At the heart of the episode are the parents who journey from all over, hoping to find cures for their unborn babies’ maladies. Episode One introduces Lesly, a resourceful 23 year-old single mother whose unborn baby has developed a massive tumor growing from her mouth. The episode includes never-before-seen operating room footage as Dr. Holly Hedrick performs a rare EXIT procedure and attempts to remove the tumor while the fetus is still attached to her mother. Meanwhile, Shelly and Bobby, a couple whose unborn child suffers from spina bifida, wait anxiously to find out if they are candidates for fetal surgery

This episode revisits the dramatic story of Lesly and her newborn baby Lilly, as the doctors remove the remainder of the child’s tumor. Meanwhile, when their unborn twins are diagnosed with Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome, Tina and Brion make an urgent visit to The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The realities of life in the Special Delivery Unit become clear when the doctors deliver unexpected news to the couple. Bobby waits anxiously for the results of the pivotal surgery Shelly and the baby undergo to repair the fetus’s spine. The unique access of the series’ camera crew gives viewers a close-up look at this surgery on a baby in the womb – the first time ever in a major television broadcast.

Episode Three delivers deeper insight into the personality and motivations of Dr. Scott Adzick, who takes viewers behind the normally closed doors of his life outside the hospital. This hour features a plastic surgeon beginning to reshape baby Lilly’s face, which culminates in a carefully planned reconstructive operation. This episode includes an intimate view of the much-anticipated delivery of Bobby and Shelly’s baby. By the end of the hour, Shelly and Bobby have returned to Boston and begin to learn the long-term impact of the fetal surgery on their daughter and what lies ahead for her. Episode Three also chronicles the story of Geneva and Reggie, a couple from North Carolina whose world is shaken when doctors reveal that their unborn child has developed an often fatal lower urinary tract obstruction.