When Baylee was 19 weeks pregnant, she settled in for her anatomy scan with optimism. All of her prenatal screenings had come back normal, including the maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein blood test, which can signal possible neural tube defects.

But just seconds into the ultrasound, the technician’s demeanor changed. She noticed enlarged ventricles and a lesion in the baby’s spine. It appeared to be spina bifida, a birth defect in which the spinal column doesn’t form properly, leaving a section of spinal cord and nerves exposed through an opening in the back.