Foetal medicine and fertility

Every year hundreds of babies are given the best chance of survival by pioneering doctors who operate on them while they are still in the womb - and thousands of couples are given help to conceive.

The Foetal Medicine Unit at University College Hospital has been leading the world in its field since it was set up by Professor Charles Rodeck in 1989.

Every week women who have been warned their unborn child has little chance of survival are referred to the unit.

Professor Rodeck has pioneered a method of giving blood transfusions to anaemic unborn babies by passing a needle through the womb and into the umbilical cord. Similar techniques are used to drain the fluid from around the lungs of unborn children.

Professor Kypros Nicolaides, who carries out similar work at King's College Hospital, has earned the reputation as a "miracle worker" for his treatment of unborn babies, and attracts doctors from around the world keen to train with him.

He is researching a unique method of detecting Down's Syndrome during pregnancy using ultrasound and blood tests, and is also pioneering ways of detecting problems including pre-eclampsia prematurity and difficult labour.

London is also home to some of the country's leading fertility experts.