Cara Buskmiller, MD MS

Dr. Buskmiller is double board-certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and in Maternal Fetal Medicine. She has completed a two-year training fellowship at Texas Children's and Baylor College of Medicine in Perinatal Surgery, also called Fetal Surgery.

Her research interests focus on the ethics and physiology surrounding the maternal-fetal-placental unit and ways to improve or reverse pathologic fetal processes antepartum. She has a personal interest in device design and clinical optimization of care, including psychosocial and palliative aspects of fetal intervention.

Her clinical focus on the psychosocial aspects of high-risk pregnancy spans a decade of research. Her papers on fetal anomalies, fetal intervention, and reproductive loss spans a decade of research, beginning in 2013 with a nationwide survey of maternity group homes and developing into investigations of perinatal palliative care and design of a brief tool to screen for complicated grief after reproductive loss. This interest dovetails with her interest in ethics of issues surrounding reproduction and high-risk pregnancy. Dr. Buskmiller regularly contributes to ethical literature and collaborates with a wide variety of co-authors for robust perspectives.

Her interests in optimizing patients’ experiences utilizes another aspect of her background to improve the technical aspects of fetal intervention and the algorithms by which we use surgery to improve outcomes. These studies focus on clinical outcomes related to surgery, ultrasound and device design. With collaborators at Baylor College of Medicine, she holds a patent in vaginal stent design and is currently working on optimizing tools for fetal surgery.

Throughout her career, Dr. Buskmiller has engaged in public speaking to scientific and lay audiences and has also developed peer review skills in ethical and medical literature.

Personal Statement

As the dedicated fetal intervention specialist for Texas Children's in Austin, my goal is to keep families closer to home while supporting them with all the resources of Texas' best children's hospital. I have a background in caring for high-risk pregnancies and difficult deliveries, and I have a background in ethics and an existing network of physicians and patients who need help navigating high risk fetal therapies in accord with their values and best practice for patient safety.

Regardless of what is going on, I know families and parents come to our Fetal Center in a difficult time. I put forth equal effort to provide excellence in curative and non-curative care paths for the youngest member (or members) of the family in a way that fits the family’s desires.

I work with a comprehensive network of support staff including social work, reproductive psychiatry and psychology and child life for older siblings. Our center is equipped with a dedicated team of nurse coordinators to ensure continuity of care in the setting of a large team. I and my team participate in nationwide research studies as a busy center, but our primary focus is still our families.

Our center is a locus for excellent perinatal palliative care for the whole family, which can include frequent ultrasounds, memory making, detailed and permissive birth planning, spiritual support as sought by the family, anticipatory grief counseling, child life for older siblings, reliance on a wide network of third-party support groups and follow-up mental health care.

Clinical Interests

Twin-twin transfusion syndrome, twin anemia-polycythemia sequence, neural tube defect, omphalocele, congenital lung mass, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, lower urinary tract obstruction, pleural effusion

Education

Organizations

Board Certifications

American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology: Board Certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology

Board Certified in Maternal-Fetal Medicine

Honors and awards

2024

Best Graduate Project for “Novel Scope for Fetoscopic Surgery,” Rice University

2023

First Place Abstract for Oral Communication in Fetal Intervention for “Tensile properties of sutures: implications for fetal surgery.” International Society for Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology

2023

Serviam Alumna Award, Ursuline Academy of Dallas

2023

Award of Research Excellence for “First Trimester Anatomy Ultrasound in Obesity: a Randomized Controlled Trial,” Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine

2022

Third place winner for St. Louis GYN Society Oral Presentation

2019

Third place winner for St. Louis GYN Society Oral Presentation

2018

Annual OB/GYN Research Symposium Best Case Presentation Award, St. Louis University School of Medicine

2018

Medical Students’ Outstanding Clinical Educator Award for OB/GYN Clerkship, St. Louis University

2017

Robert Blaskiewicz Award for Best Teaching Resident, St. Louis University

2017

Medical Students’ Award for Best Teaching Resident, St. Louis University

2017

Interns’ Award for Outstanding Second-Year Resident Teaching, St. Louis University

2016

First Place, “Aggies Invent” Innovation Challenge, Texas A&M College of Engineering

2015

Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society

2015

Gold Humanism Honor Society

2015

Glasgow-Rubin Academic Achievement, American Medical Women’s Association

* Texas Children’s Hospital physicians’ licenses and credentials are reviewed prior to practicing at any of our facilities. Sections titled From the Doctor, Professional Organizations and Publications were provided by the physician’s office and were not verified by Texas Children’s Hospital.

Research interests

Fetal intervention, perinatal palliative care, reproductive loss, device design, ethics, first trimester ultrasound

Grant Support

2024: National I-Corps cohort, National Science Foundation ($50,000)

2024: BCM Seed Grant, Baylor College of Medicine ($25,000)

2024: BCM Ventures Proof-of-Concept Award ($42,584)

JL Munoz, C Buskmiller, AA Nassr, M Sanz Cortes, S Keswani, A King, T Lee, MA Belfort, L Joyeux, RV Donepudi. Ultrasound prediction of fetal sacrococcygeal teratoma perinatal morbidity. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology, 2024 Feb 16. doi:10.1002/uog.27617. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38363641

JL Munoz, C Buskmiller, M Sanz Cortes, RV Donepudi, MA Belfort, AA Nassr. Perinatal outcomes of fetoscopic selective laser photocoagulation for spontaneous twin-anemia polycythemia sequence. Prenatal Diagnosis, 2024 Apr 21. doi: 10.1002/pd.6576. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38643401

JL Munoz, S Tounsi, C Buskmiller, M Sanz Cortes, RV Donepudi, MA Belfort, AA Nassr. Outcomes of fetal lower urinary tract obstruction based on timing of oligohydramnios onset. Prenatal Diagnosis, 2024 Feb;44(2):131-137. doi: 10.1002/pd.6493. Epub 2023 Dec 22. PMID: 38133549.

C Buskmiller, S Toates, V Rodriguez, E Hernandez-Andrade. A learning curve for first trimester anatomy ultrasound in obese patients. Gynecologic and Obstetric Investigation, 2024 Mar 22. doi: 10.1159/000538477. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38522420

JJ Bute, M Brann, C Buskmiller, M Fredenburg. There’s no time limit on grief: Patient Perspectives on a Novel Reproductive Grief Screening Tool. PEC Innovation, 2023 Dec 4;3:100244. doi: 10.1016/j.pecinn.2023.100244. PMID: 38076488; PMCID: PMC10704326

JL Munoz, C Buskmiller, M Sanz Cortes, R Donepudi, M Belfort, AA Nassr. Fetoscopic laser photocoagulation for complex heterokaryotypic monochorionic twin management. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology, 2024 Mar;63(3):422-423. doi: 10.1002/uog.27506. Epub 2024 Feb 11. PMID: 37767634

C Buskmiller. Ectopic Pregnancy as Previable Delivery, Christian bioethics: Non-Ecumenical Studies in Medical Morality, 2024;, cbae003, https://doi.org/10.1093/cb/cbae003

C Buskmiller, M Fishel-Bartal, M Bonilla, C Denham, R Nguyen, B Sibai, C Pedroza, E Hernandez-Andrade. First trimester anatomy ultrasound for patients with obesity: a randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology MFM, 2023 Nov;5(11):101143. doi: 10.1016/j.ajogmf.2023.101143. Epub 2023 Sep 3. PMID: 37669739