Abstract
Daffos et al first described ultrasound-guided percutaneous fetal blood sampling in 1983.1 Simply stated, a needle is inserted into the sonographic plane of a high-resolution transducer and then guided into the umbilical cord. The development of the procedure, now called cordocentesis, had been spurred by a unique set of circumstances in France: a high endemic rate of toxoplasmosis and the legality of pregnancy termination through the third trimester. Prior techniques giving access to the fetal circulation such as placentocentesis and fetos-copy were either not technically simple or not efficient, and each carried an unacceptably high pregnancy loss rate, 5% in most experienced hands. The import of development of cordocentesis cannot be overstated.