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?"
(following article stolen from BBC News, 13 September, 2003)
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Babies can smile, cry and blink before birth, a doctor says. Advances in ultrasound scanning have allowed doctors to see that babies in the womb exhibit facial expressions as a reflex in preparation for birth, obstetrician Stuart Campbell said. It was previously thought babies learned to smile after birth by copying their mothers. Since 2001 Professor Campbell has captured images of babies smiling, using a revolutionary 4D scanner. "They make breathing movements inside the uterus, but there is no air, and they blink, but there is no light, so it seems they are making preparations for birth," he said. Babies do not normally smile after birth until they are about six weeks old.
"This may indicate the baby's calm, trouble-free existence in the womb and the relatively traumatic first few weeks after birth, when the baby is reacting to a strange, new environment," Prof Campbell said. "I don't think people realise the range of facial expressions you get inside the uterus, or indeed that babies blink. "With 2D scanning you can see the eyeballs rolling, but now with 4D scanning it is quite clear that they are opening their eyelids, and that is in a very dark environment, so it must be a reflex. Reflex Smiling, however, cannot be interpreted as preparation for birth but may be a reflex, Prof Campbell said. He said: "What's behind the smile, of course, I can't say, but the corners turn up and the cheeks bulge ... I think it must be some indication of contentment in a stress-free environment." The 4D scanner, which produces detailed 3D images that move in real time, has shown that babies start making finger movements at 15 weeks, yawning at 18 weeks and smiling, blinking and crying at 26 weeks. A one-hour consultation with 4D ultrasound scanning at the Create Health clinic where Prof Campbell pioneered its use, costs £275.
The Pro-Life Party reacted immediately to the images by claiming it strengthened their arguments against abortion. Pro-Life spokeswoman Julia Millington said: "The images show the delightful reality of the humanity of the unborn baby. "We cannot believe that anybody could continue supporting abortion when they see these extraordinary pictures."
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I don't think people realise the range of facial expressions you get inside the uterus, or indeed that babies blink
The images show the delightful reality of the humanity of the unborn baby
