05.09.2025

Just a year ago, in Kazakhstan, no mother could imagine that her baby’s life could be saved before birth. Today, this is a reality! In Astana and Almaty, doctors have already successfully performed more than 80 intrauterine surgeries – interventions to correct the fetal development pathologies which have been previously performed abroad only.

First steps

The launch of intrauterine surgeries took place in the summer of 2024 as part of master classes with the participation of international experts practicing the fetal surgery. 46 surgeries have been performed at the Center for Perinatology and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery in Almaty, and 35 surgeries have been performed in the UMC Clinic’s Center for Motherhood and Childhood in Astana during one year. Doctors started with only one type of intervention – laser coagulation of vascular anastomoses, which can save the fetal life in multiple pregnancies. Currently, some more fetal surgeries are performed: amnioreduction, amnioinfusion, vesicoamniotic shunting and laser coagulation of the umbilical cord in twins. These are the complicated medical terms, but each of them means a chance for the child birth, a chance for the happiness to become parents.  33 mothers could take the newborn babies in their arms, and more than 29 pregnancies successfully continue due to these intrauterine interventions. This is a real miracle which the mothers-to-be from Atyrau and Shymkent, from Pavlodar and Uralsk, from Semey and Kyzylorda, and all over Kazakhstan come to doctors in Astana and Almaty for.

“We’ve been dreaming about this for a long time”

Behind every breakthrough in medicine, there is always a great dream reinforced by professional confidence that everything will work out with a strong team. Gulnara Nurlanova, the Director of the Center for Perinatology and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery in Almaty, where the first intrauterine surgeries took place, says: “We have known about the possibilities of fetal surgery for a long time and dreamed that one day it would become available in Kazakhstan. Therefore, when the AYALA Foundation proposed to launch the innovative project in our center in early 2023, my first thought was the fetal medicine… the Ministry of Healthcare and the Akimat of Almaty provided a great support to the project: We were given the permission to perform such surgeries, therefore, these surgeries became available to any pregnant woman in our country. This project inspired both me and our doctors, so everything was made with enthusiasm.”

Events developed quickly: the AYALA Charity Foundation and doctors from two medical centers in Astana and Almaty devoted the entire year 2023 and half of 2024 to study the specifics of fetal medicine. The Foundation organized the participation of future fetal surgeons in the largest international fetal medicine congresses, sent 7 doctors for practical training abroad, was supported by Chevron and conducted 10 practical master classes with the participation of leading international practitioners in Kazakhstan. But most importantly, the Foundation equipped two Fetal Medicine Centers with all required equipment supported by the partner, GASENERGY Gas Station Network.

“My Foundation has been working for 19 years to perform the most complex surgical interventions in our country, not abroad.  Therefore, the launch of fetal surgery has become one of the most inspiring projects in my practice. We make a real breakthrough in domestic medicine together with the government and doctors. This result gives the energy and desire to continue the search and help with the introduction of advanced medical technologies in Kazakhstan,” emphasizes Aidan Suleymenova, the Founder and President of AYALA Charity Foundation.

46 surgeries were successfully performed in Almaty during one year. These surgeries include 16 corrections of feto-fetal syndrome, 22 amnioreductions, amnioinfusions and shunting.

“The most difficulty in this project was the search for the surgical equipment – nobody imported or sold it to Kazakhstan. AYALA Charity Foundation helped us a lot. Then we had to work to overcome the distrust on the part of the patients: we wrote posts in the social media of our center and shared the happy stories of the first mothers who were able to give birth due to fetal surgery only. Currently, the situation has changed: the Ministry of Healthcare has developed a procedure for sending pregnant women for fetal surgery to two centers,” — Gulnara Kaztaevna said.

“This is a real miracle”

One of the first patients of this program was a mother of twins from Almaty, Ryszhan Aubakirova. She was diagnosed with feto-fetal transfusion syndrome at the early stage of pregnancy, a dangerous condition when one fetus receives too many nutrients through the placenta, and the other fetus receives too little nutrients. Both fetuses could have died without intervention. The woman was offered to undergo the intrauterine surgery – laser coagulation of placental vessels. It was a difficult decision for the family: fear, uncertainty, and at the same time — hope. The surgery was successful. Today, the family brings up two healthy daughters.

“I am very grateful to the doctors of the Center for Perinatology and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery and AYALA Foundation for the fact that such surgeries are available in Kazakhstan. A year ago, I didn’t even know that it was possible to save a child before birth. It’s a real miracle for me,” says the mother of girls.

“The first fetal surgery – the first child”

The first fetal surgery in the “Center of Motherhood and Childhood” of the UMC Clinic in Astana will remain forever in the memory of doctors. Gulmira Magzumova, the Head of the UMC Fetal Medicine Program, recalls: “The first independent surgery was conducted in a patient from Atyrau with feto-fetal transfusion syndrome. We performed this intervention successfully, and she had a baby boy, who is now about a month old. This was a significant event for the entire team of the Fetal Medicine Department.”

35 fetal surgeries were performed in the capital during one year: from laser coagulation of placental vessels to intrauterine donor blood transfusions. 6 babies were born, and some more women successfully continue pregnancy due to the fetal surgery.

“The support of AYALA Charity Foundation has become a cardinal catalyst for the development of fetal medicine in Kazakhstan,” — said Dr. Magzumova.

The team of the Center for Motherhood and Childhood is ready to go further and master new surgeries – diaphragmatic hernias and congenital malformations of the urinary system. This autumn, Ruslan Bilal, one of the fetal surgeons from Astana, will go to Germany to study under the UMC Pogram with Professor Thomas Kohl, the largest practicing expert in the European Union.

What once seemed like a dream!

For the Ministry of Healthcare, this project has become the example of the rapid implementation of world best practices in domestic medicine.

“In the first year, we could do what seemed like a dream until recently. For the first time in the history of Kazakhstan, fetal surgeries have become a reality and are performed on modern equipment according to international standards. There are already the first positive results – children who got a chance to be born and keep healthy due to these surgeries. This is the main achievement inspiring us to move on,” said Shakizat Khalykova, the Head of the Maternal Health Protection Department of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The Ministry of Healthcare sets the ambitious goals: expand the range of surgeries and establish a network of fetal surgery centers in the regions in the coming years to make the high-tech medical care available not only in Astana and Almaty.

“We plan to add the intrauterine correction of diaphragmatic hernias and spinal hernias – this will reduce the infant mortality and prevent the children disability. At the same time, we will strengthen the staff training and exchange of experience with the world leading clinics,” explains Shakizat Khalykova.

81 surgeries, 7 trained fetal surgeons, 10 international master classes, dozens of newborns, and even more babies to be born. Each figure is stated here not just as a statistics. Behind these figures are the stories of families who lived in fear for their future sons and daughters, but found a hope for happy parenthood. These are the stories of mothers who entrusted our doctors with the most precious thing – the life and health of their unborn child. And, of course, these are the stories of doctors who courageously took a bold step into a completely new field of medicine for Kazakhstan – fetal surgery.