Dr. Robin Pierucci has spent nearly 25 years caring for babies with serious prenatal diagnoses and walking alongside families during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. As a board-certified neonatologist, she sees firsthand how a diagnosis can shatter expectations and leave parents overwhelmed with fear. Yet her message is simple: a prenatal diagnosis is not the same as a postnatal prognosis.
Too often, parents are presented with worst-case scenarios and offered little hope.
On The Mark Swartzberg Show, Dr. Pierucci explains that some conditions once considered universally fatal are now known to have a much wider range of outcomes. While she never minimizes the medical challenges a child may face, she emphasizes that every child possesses inherent dignity and worth.
When families come to her after receiving difficult news, one of her first questions is, “Have you chosen a name?” That simple question often brings tears. In a moment when parents may feel pressured to focus on diagnoses and statistics, naming a child acknowledges the reality that this is a unique person, deeply loved and deserving of care.
Dr. Pierucci encourages parents to approach each situation with humility and hope. Medicine can provide valuable information, but it cannot predict every outcome. Some babies diagnosed with severe conditions live only briefly, while others exceed expectations and bring immeasurable joy to their families. Her goal is to help parents become advocates for their children and partners with the medical team in seeking what is best for each baby.
Even when a child’s life is short, Dr. Pierucci reminds families that love is never wasted. She tells grieving parents that they have succeeded by surrounding their child with love for every moment of life. Recalling families whose babies lived only minutes or hours after birth, she has witnessed how those precious moments can become sacred memories that parents cherish forever.
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