Pioneering scanning techniques have produced
astonishing images from inside the womb which
show babies apparently smiling and crying.
Experts believe the breakthrough could lead to
advances in baby health for a whole range of
conditions, including Down's Syndrome.
The pictures offer a new insight into foetal
behaviour.
The ultra-sound scanning techniques capture images
which show the foetuses yawn, blink, suck their fingers and seem to cry and smile.
Up to now, doctors did not think infants made such expressions until after birth and
believed they learned to smile by copying their mother.
The procedure has been pioneered by London obstetrician Professor Stuart Campbell at the
Create Health Centre for Reproduction and Advanced Technology.
His pictures reveal foetuses moving their limbs at just eight weeks.
The new techniques, known as 3D and 4D scanning, allow for far more detailed examination
of the foetus.
"There are many questions that can now be investigated," said Prof Campbell.
"Do babies with genetic problems such as Downs Syndrome have the same pattern of
activity as normal babies?
"Does the foetus smile because it is happy, or cry because it has been disturbed by some
event in the womb?
"Why does a foetus blink when we assume it's dark inside the uterus?"
Didn't ku'u just tell us that her ultrasound showed the baby had an erection?.....