Up to the late 1950s, few infants born with spina bifida aperta were treated actively and there was a wish, usually realised, that they would die.

Neural tube defects - ie, craniorachisisis, anencephaly, and spina bifida aperta - are amongst the commonest congenital abnormalities.

As a result, thinning of the uterine wall or dehisscence which have been among the most worriesome and critizised complications after the open operative approach do not occur following minimally-invasive fetoscopic closure of spina bifida aperta.