Media contact: Anna Jones
UAB helps meet the needs of adults with spina bifida by providing care as one of the only adult spina bifida clinics in the Southeast.
Photography: Jennifer Alsabrook-TurnerSpina bifida is the most common permanently disabling birth defect that is associated with life. Each year, approximately 1,400 babies born in the United States have spina bifida, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Spina bifida, usually apparent at birth, is a type of neural tube defect in which the neural tube does not completely close during development in the womb, resulting in damage to the spinal cord and nerves.
Until recent years, spina bifida was considered primarily a pediatric problem. With the success of innovative health care, there are now more individuals with this condition living healthy adult lives. This creates unique needs for care in the adult health care system. The University of Alabama at Birmingham is helping meet those needs by providing care as one of the only adult spina bifida clinics in the southeastern United States.
The UAB Adult Multidisciplinary Spina Bifida Clinic, housed in UAB Spain Rehabilitation Center, is a collaboration between the departments of Neurosurgery, Urology, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. This specialty clinic offers comprehensive care by providing three specialties crucial to maintaining optimal health for adults with spina bifida, all in one clinic visit. While on-site, patients have access to radiology, social work, neuropsychology, wheelchair seating and repairs, physical and occupational therapy, orthotics and prosthetics, wound care, and plastic surgery.
The World Health Assembly recently adopted a resolution calling for mandatory folic acid food fortification along with other micronutrients to combat preventable micronutrient deficiencies, such as spina bifida and neural tube defects. The resolution was introduced in May 2022 by the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies in collaboration with the Global Alliance for Prevention of Spina Bifida, which was co-founded by Jeffrey Blount, M.D., a pediatric neurosurgeon at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Children’s of Alabama.
“Our team strives to provide excellent care while also researching how these efforts affect the quality of life for our patients, their families and their futures,” said Danielle Powell, M.D., medical director of the clinic.
The clinic will be participating in two upcoming events aimed at educating individuals with spina bifida and their families. On Nov. 1, the clinic will be participating in the Spina Bifida Education Day Across the Lifespan from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. This event is sponsored by UAB Medicine and Children’s of Alabama. On June 6-7, 2025, the Spina Bifida Association National Clinical Care Meeting will be held at Children’s of Alabama. Those interested can register for this event here.