CHICAGO - A four-year-old Chicago girl named Olivia is thriving after undergoing a rare fetoscopic surgery to treat spina bifida before she was born.

What we know:

Doctors at the Chicago Institute for Fetal Health at Lurie Children’s Hospital performed the procedure in mid-gestation, when her mother was about 24 weeks pregnant.

The minimally invasive surgery involved entering the uterus and repairing the baby’s spine before birth.

"Basically, in mid-gestation, just after that, around 23, 24, 25 weeks, we'll actually go in through an incision in the mom's abdomen, and then, with tiny instruments, enter the uterus and repair, just like we do after birth, repair the back. To cover the spinal cord, to close it, put it back inside, and then cover it with layers of tissue, just like we wou

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