The Fetal Frontline

Fetal Therapy Nurse Network (FTNN)

The Fetal Frontline is the official podcast of the Fetal Therapy Nurse Network (FTNN) — a community of more than 400 nurses across the United States and Canada who care for families navigating prenatal diagnosis, fetal therapy, and high-risk pregnancy. Hosted by Kris Rimbos and produced for the network, the show features candid conversations with the founders, pioneers, and frontline coordinators who built — and continue to build — fetal therapy nursing as a specialty. From origin stories and clinical reflections to the emotional realities of caring for two patients at once, each episode offers an unfiltered look at one of medicine's most demanding and least-discussed corners. New episodes roughly once a month. Subscribe wherever you listen.

Episodes

  1. Jul 29

    # EP5 — The Weight We Carry: Secondary Traumatic Stress in Fetal Care

    Ninety-five percent of the time, Jen Anderson says, hers is a happy job — bringing new lives into the world. It's the other five percent that stays. In this episode of The Fetal Frontline, host Kris Rimbos sits down with Jen, a nurse of nearly 20 years and a coordinator for a fetal surgery and fetal intervention program, for an open conversation about secondary traumatic stress — the trauma caregivers absorb by witnessing and walking alongside families through the worst days of their lives. Jen traces her whole arc: the scream from the end of the hall, early in her career, that she has never unheard; the move into fetal care, where devastating, life-altering diagnoses are delivered in real time and then walked longitudinally for months; and the slow build-up of a weight that, in the last year, brought her to a breaking point. She's candid about how it shows up — a bubbly, outspoken person going quiet at home, unable to turn her brain off — and clear-eyed about why it's so often mistaken for burnout. ("A pizza party is not gonna solve what you're feeling.") The heart of the episode is the moment she broke, and what she did next: she texted the FTNN board of directors — "I'm struggling. What's helped you?" — and was met with a flood of texts, calls, and emails saying I've been there, you're not alone. That, she says, is how this podcast came to be. From there she opens up about what actually helps: quick debriefs and covering for each other; naming it at home; the little bright spots (massage chairs, relaxation rooms, therapy dogs, a morale grant); reaching out to your people; and the hard work of letting some of it go. She closes with a call to action for leaders and a belief at the center of it all — that patients trust nurses, and the way a family is cared for can change the trajectory of a diagnosis. In this episode: - What secondary traumatic stress is — and how it differs from burnout - Why fetal care carries it differently: diagnosis in real time, and the long road after - The breaking point, and the text message to the FTNN board that started this podcast - What actually helps — debriefs, peer support, self-talk, and filling your own cup - How to spot a struggling coworker, and how to advocate for yourself - Why caring isn't selfish, and why nurses are the bridge Chapters: - 0:00 — Welcome: the weight we carry - 1:29 — Meet Jen Anderson - 2:39 — What secondary traumatic stress is - 3:17 — The scream she'll never unhear - 5:29 — How it shows up - 7:09 — Burnout is not the same thing - 9:28 — Why fetal care is different - 14:10 — After a hard day - 17:38 — When the team carries it together - 19:20 — Support that actually helps - 22:38 — Patients are therapy, too - 24:48 — The breaking point — the text that started this podcast - 26:41 — We're not the only ones - 27:22 — Friends, joy, and showing up - 30:12 — Wellness that works - 32:00 — The turning point: "I kind of just broke" - 33:41 — What helps her heal - 35:18 — Start talking: be your own advocate - 38:11 — Spotting a struggling coworker - 39:41 — Hope, and one message: patients trust nurses Guest: Jen Anderson, RN, CLC — fetal care nurse; nurse coordinator for a fetal surgery and fetal intervention program. Host: Kris Rimbos — host of The Fetal Frontline and an FTNN board member. If this conversation resonated, share it with a colleague, your care team, or a healthcare leader. Together we can build a culture where seeking support is viewed as a sign of strength — and where no caregiver has to carry the weight of secondary traumatic stress alone. Learn more about the Fetal Therapy Nurse Network at fetaltherapynursenetwork.org, and subscribe to The Fetal Frontline wherever you listen.

    # EP5 — The Weight We Carry: Secondary Traumatic Stress in Fetal Care

  2. Jun 26

    Ep4: Before Birth: A Conversation with the Father of Fetal Surgery

    Dr. Michael Harrison didn't set out to invent a field of medicine — he set out to save one baby. In this episode of The Fetal Frontline, host Kris Rimbos sits down with the surgeon widely known as the Father of Fetal Surgery for a wide-ranging conversation about how operating on a patient before birth went from unthinkable to standard of care. Harrison traces the whole arc: the newborn with a diaphragmatic hernia whose death revealed the real problem began before birth; choosing UCSF — an "up-and-coming" school unbound by tradition, where a radical idea could actually be pursued; answering skeptics with roughly 1,500 fetal-lamb operations instead of argument; and the "marriage of disciplines" — surgery, obstetrics, perinatology, neonatology — that turned an experiment into a specialty. He reflects on the ethics of caring for two patients at once, the mind-bending first open fetal surgeries, and Michael Skinner, the first baby to survive one, whose family named him after his surgeon. He explains how spina bifida reframed the goal from saving a life to protecting a way of life, how necessity drove the device work of his "D-VICE squad," and what Yale crew taught him about endurance. Finally, he looks ahead — to genetics, metabolic disease, and AI — and shares the legacy he hopes endures: not the answers, but the constant questioning. Along the way, he names the achievement he's proudest of: his family. In this episode: - The single case that launched a field — and the insight that the problem was pulmonary, before birth - Why it had to be UCSF, the "Wild West" where a radical idea could be tried - Answering the skeptics with data: ~1,500 fetal-lamb operations - A marriage of disciplines, NAFTNet & IFMSS, and the ethics of the unborn patient - Michael Skinner, spina bifida, and the devices necessity demanded - Mentoring the next generation, the future of genetics & AI, and a life kept well-ordered Chapters: - 0:00 — Welcome: the Father of Fetal Surgery - 1:27 — A doctor like his father - 2:41 — The case that changed everything - 5:37 — UCSF and the "Wild West" - 7:12 — Answering the skeptics - 9:25 — A marriage of disciplines - 11:19 — Building a global network (NAFTNet & IFMSS) - 12:37 — Ethics of the unborn patient - 13:33 — Innovation and patient safety - 16:27 — Inside the first fetal surgery - 17:40 — Michael Skinner: living proof - 18:37 — Spina bifida and quality of life - 19:46 — Necessity drives innovation (the D-VICE squad) - 22:55 — Rowing, grit, and endurance - 24:30 — Mentoring the next generation - 27:41 — The future: genetics & AI - 29:26 — Legacy: keep questioning - 31:12 — Family, and a life well-ordered Guest: Dr. Michael Harrison, MD — pediatric and fetal surgeon; founder of the UCSF Fetal Treatment Center, the world's first. Host: Kris Rimbos — host of The Fetal Frontline and an FTNN board member. Learn more about the Fetal Therapy Nurse Network at fetaltherapynursenetwork.org, and subscribe to The Fetal Frontline wherever you listen.

  3. Jun 5

    Ep3: Hope, Advocacy, and Healing: Social Work in Fetal Care

    Social work is one of fetal care's most vital — and least understood — roles. In this episode of The Fetal Frontline, host Kris Rimbos sits down with Beth Moorhouse, a social worker specializing in fetal and perinatal care, for a grounded conversation about what it really takes to support families through the most uncertain moments of a pregnancy. Beth explains how she builds trust fast with families who arrive in crisis, how she helps parents process life-changing news step by step, and how she advocates for access — transportation, lodging, FMLA, insurance, and the social determinants that shape every outcome. She unpacks culturally sensitive, patient-centered care, the team "huddle" that delivers one compassionate message, and the unique, personal lens social work brings to the interdisciplinary table. She also opens up about the hardest parts of the work: supporting families through impossible decisions without ever steering them, giving voice to grief, gathering mementos like a heartbeat bear, perinatal mental health, and the support group she helped launch with Postpartum Support International — closing on how she cares for herself, the misconception she'd most like to correct, and why this work matters. In this episode: - What a fetal care social worker actually does — counseling, advocacy, care coordination, grief support - Building rapport in minutes, and meeting families where they are - Advocacy and equity: removing the barriers between families and care - The huddle, the team, and social work's personal lens - Impossible decisions, held with compassion and zero judgment - Grief, mementos, perinatal mental health, and caring for the whole family Chapters: - 0:00 — The role of social work in fetal care - 0:54 — From maternal-child care to the fetal frontier - 4:12 — What surprised her most - 5:29 — Building trust fast: the assessment - 7:32 — Processing hard news & impossible decisions - 10:54 — Advocacy: giving families a voice - 13:31 — Barriers, equity & social determinants - 17:04 — Culturally sensitive, patient-centered care - 19:52 — The team, the huddle & social work's lens - 28:30 — Supporting decisions without steering them - 34:51 — Grief, loss & gathering mementos - 39:59 — Support groups & perinatal mental health - 45:12 — Coping, self-care & the whole family - 50:42 — Reflections: why this work matters Guest: Beth Moorhouse, MSW, LCSW, PMH-C — social worker specializing in fetal & perinatal care. Host: Kris Rimbos — host of The Fetal Frontline and an FTNN board member.

    Ep3: Hope, Advocacy, and Healing: Social Work in Fetal Care

  4. May 4

    EP2: Where Compassion Meets Innovation: Inside Fetal Care Nursing

    Fetal care nursing is one of medicine's most specialized — and least visible — roles. In this episode of The Fetal Frontline, host Kris Rimbos sits down with Melissa Dorn, a fetal care nurse with more than two decades in fetal therapy, for a grounded, honest look at what the work really involves. Melissa breaks her job into four "buckets" — handling the intake and triage of referrals, connecting with anxious families before they ever arrive, centering care in the OR during fetal procedures, and logging every case to the research and NAFNet registry. Along the way she explains the conditions she sees most — twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, selective growth restriction, lower urinary tract obstruction, fetal anemia — how she coordinates a dozen specialties as "the hub that connects all the dots," and how she supports families through the hardest decisions a pregnancy can hold, without judgment. She also opens up about making memories for families, guarding her own well-being, and where she sees the specialty heading. In this episode: - What a fetal care nurse actually does, day to day — the "four buckets" of the work - The conditions and procedures at the heart of fetal therapy - Care coordination: keeping a dozen specialties on the same page - Meeting families in crisis — education without overwhelm, trust, and grief - Ethics and complex decisions, held with compassion and zero judgment - Making memories, caring for the caregiver, and the future of the field Chapters: - 0:00 — The clinical voices in fetal care - 1:13 — From med-surg to fetal therapy - 4:35 — A day in four buckets - 8:42 — Conditions, procedures & core skills - 10:03 — Care coordination: the hub - 12:47 — Meeting families in crisis - 15:12 — The interdisciplinary team - 17:21 — Ethics & complex decisions - 19:53 — Making memories - 20:46 — Caring for the caregiver - 23:03 — Where fetal care nursing is heading - 25:47 — Closing reflection Guest: Melissa Dorn, MN, RN — fetal care nurse, 20+ years in fetal therapy nursing. Host: Kris Rimbos — host of The Fetal Frontline and an FTNN board member.

    EP2: Where Compassion Meets Innovation: Inside Fetal Care Nursing

  5. Apr 24

    EP1: The History of FTNN

    In 2015, one nurse saw a gap no one else was filling — and decided to do something about it. Ten years later, the Fetal Therapy Nurse Network has grown from 25 founding members to nearly 440 across the United States and Canada. In this inaugural episode of The Fetal Frontline, founder Katie Francis sits with host Kris Rimbos to trace the network's origin story: how a young coordinator at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon found herself building a fetal program from scratch, why she finally asked "why are we all reinventing the wheel?", and the conversations with pioneers — Jody Farrell at UCSF, Lori Howell at CHOP, and Dr. Bill Polzin of NAFNet — that turned an idea into a meeting of twenty-five nurses. Katie talks candidly about the moment she felt judged for sharing a hard delivery, and how that single experience shaped the network's most important unwritten rule: we do not judge each other, ever. She reflects on what FTNN taught her about leadership — checking your ego at the door, advocating openly instead of covertly, and making peace with the fact that what you start is never really yours to keep. Plus: the inaugural Lori J. Howell Excellence in Fetal Nursing Award, the rise of precision medicine in fetal care, and where the network goes from here. In this episode: – Why fetal therapy nursing is a "specialty of a specialty" – The "coordinator of coordinators" role – How peer endorsement built FTNN's credibility before any marketing did – What vulnerability — said out loud, by the founder, first — actually does for a network – The founder's loop: ego vs. what's good for the network The Fetal Frontline is the official podcast of the Fetal Therapy Nurse Network. Learn more at https://www.fetaltherapynursenetwork.org.

    EP1: The History of FTNN
  • 5 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

The Fetal Frontline is the official podcast of the Fetal Therapy Nurse Network (FTNN) — a community of more than 400 nurses across the United States and Canada who care for families navigating prenatal diagnosis, fetal therapy, and high-risk pregnancy. Hosted by Kris Rimbos and produced for the network, the show features candid conversations with the founders, pioneers, and frontline coordinators who built — and continue to build — fetal therapy nursing as a specialty. From origin stories and clinical reflections to the emotional realities of caring for two patients at once, each episode offers an unfiltered look at one of medicine's most demanding and least-discussed corners. New episodes roughly once a month. Subscribe wherever you listen.

Information

  • Creator
    Fetal Therapy Nurse Network (FTNN)
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    5
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    The Fetal Frontline

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