Provider News

Fetal Intervention and Surgery Is Now Available at Seattle Children’s

October 6, 2021

Effective October 1, 2021, Seattle Children’s is proud to announce our expanded Fetal Care and Treatment Center.

The Center includes the only fetal intervention and surgery program in the Northwest, as well as advanced diagnostic and testing options, dedicated care coordination, the most comprehensive pediatric medical and surgical experts in the region and robust support services. Dr. Mark Lewin will lead the Center.

Introducing Drs. Paek and Walker

Bettina Paek, MD, and Martin Walker, MD, have joined Seattle Children’s to lead the Center’s Maternal Fetal Intervention and Surgery Program as co-directors along with Dr. Rebecca Stark, pediatric surgeon. They bring more than two decades of experience providing fetal intervention and caring for families with a wide range of conditions, including complex monochorionic twins. They also bring their experienced sonography team and their fetal therapy coordinator, Melissa Dorn, RN.

Drs. Paek and Walker come from a successful private practice known for creating an environment of warmth and empathy for families. “The new Center will combine the best of both worlds,” says Dr. Walker. “Personal, family-centered care coupled with a world-class institution that offers top surgeons, fantastic researchers and a rigorous academic environment.”

State-of-the-Art Facilities

The Fetal Care and Treatment Center offers the next generation of fetal care for families around the Pacific Northwest and beyond. It is located in a newly remodeled, state-of-the-art facility at Springbrook Professional Center, one block from Seattle Children’s main campus. The Center offers services at more than a dozen other locations and performs some procedures such as fetoscopic surgery, laser procedures and bipolar cord coagulation at nearby UW Medical Center–Montlake where patients will have access to a level IV NICU and OB teams supporting their surgical stay.

Services We Provide

Fetal Diagnosis Program
- Comprehensive evaluation, counseling and management guidance in pregnancies with fetal anomalies
- Maternal-fetal medicine (MFM)–level obstetrical imaging, including first-trimester anatomy ultrasound screening
- Fetal echocardiogram and pediatric cardiology consultations
- MFM consultations for maternal issues (in-person/telehealth)
- On-site genetic counseling
Maternal Fetal Intervention and Surgery Program
- Laser photocoagulation for TTTS
- Serial amnioreduction
- Selective umbilical cord coagulation
- Release of critical amniotic bands
- Radiofrequency ablation for TRAP pregnancies
- Fetal shunting for thoracic or urinary conditions
- Fetal transfusion
- Continuing observation and counseling for twins with TAPS, SIUGR or discordance for anomalies and babies with LUTO
- Management of complex chorioangiomas
- Follow-up of complicated monochorionic pregnancies

Outcomes Among the Best in the Nation

Walker and Paek have performed 575 laser fetoscopic laser ablations for twin-to-twin transfusion, with 96.5% of procedures resulting in one or more twin surviving and over 75% resulting in dual survival.
Seattle Children’s has some of the highest 30-day survival rates in the nation for neonatal heart surgeries and CDH.

Team Leadership

Mark B. Lewin, MD, Medical Director, Fetal Care and Treatment Center
Bhawna Arya, MD, Director, Fetal Cardiology
Bettina W. Paek, MD, Co-director, Maternal Fetal Intervention and Surgery Program
Martin P R Walker, MD, Co-director, Maternal Fetal Intervention and Surgery Program
Rebecca Stark, MD, Co-director, Maternal Fetal Intervention and Surgery Program
Wendy McGrath, MSOTR/L, Clinic Director, Fetal Care and Treatment Center

Meet the other members of our team.

Available When You Need Us

Staff are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year-round, for urgent maternal-fetal intervention or surgery concerns.

How to Refer a Patient

For ANY maternal-fetal intervention or surgery concerns, call 206-987-4137 to speak with Mellissa Dorn, MN, RN, the fetal intervention nurse coordinator, or text or call Dr. Walker or Dr. Paek directly. An appointment request form is not required.

Dr. Walker: 425-802-2201
Dr. Paek: 206-696-4404

We are committed to providing a seamless, personalized, family-centered experience for your patients. Learn more about how to refer and what your patients can expect at seattlechildrens.org/fetalcenter.