DC 2007-04-13, In The Womb 子宫日记 6

26'11 -


After starting at a feeble 20 to 25 beats per minute, it now pumps as fast as it will ever go, a frantic 157 beats every minute—an adult heartbeat is normally 70 to 80. After this peak, the heart rate will decrease as the heart, along with the rest of the body, gradually comes under the brain's control.

At 10 weeks old, the fetus has been hidden from the outside world, but the mother is about to get her first glimpse of the secret events unfolding inside her womb. Three months have passed since conception, and the time has arrived for the first ultrasound scan. Ultrasound scans that peer into the womb have revolutionized our understanding of fetal development and care for the mother.

"So here we have your little baby in there. Oops, now that's a bit of activity from there."

Professor Stuart Campbell of the Create Health Clinic in London is one of the world's leading experts in obstetrics.

"Can you see the head of the baby's looking to the side? And it all makes sense to you when the baby starts to move."
"OK."

The pictures are produced by sending ultrahigh frequency sound waves, far too high for us to hear, from the probe into the body of the mother. The waves penetrate through internal tissue, passing easily through fluid areas like amniotic fluid, but bouncing back strongly off solids like bone.

"See, one, two, three, four..."

The reflected waves are collected to produce an internal image similar to an X-ray but without the danger. Ultrasound scans aren't known to cause any harm to the fetus.

"Here's the face out there."

Inside the womb, the fetus lives in fluid—even the lungs are filled with fluid—and the ultrasound produces a moving image that to a trained eye reveals important information about the health and development of the fetus.

"This is the cerebellum, part of the brain that helps you keep your balance."

The first scan can also establish a more accurate due date based on the fetus's size instead of guessing from the date of the mother's last menstrual period.

"So it's 82.9 mm.", "Fine."
"For they cry not on me, ok? Now, just to the nuchal translucency, coz you haven’t had that."
"Right.", "Okay?"

The scan can also show early but not conclusive diagnostic features pointing toward genetic abnormalities.

"No, that's a test for Down syndrome. No, it doesn't definitely say babies have Down syndrome or not, but it tells you if you're at risk."

Until recently, noninvasive research into the development of the human fetus has been restricted to fetal autopsies or grainy, 2-dimensional ultrasound scans. But now this area of exploration has been revolutionized with the development of 3-dimensional scans, and, even more remarkably, 3D scans which move in real time, known as 4D scans.

"Oh, look, call it wow, yeah."
"It's her hand of, it's her face."

Obstetricians can directly observe how the fetus grows, behaves, reacts to stimulation and how its reflexes help it prepare for birth and for survival outside the womb.

Professor Campbell is a world-renowned pioneer of these new scans and is responsible for taking these incredible images. This scan shows a 30-week fetus yawning, and this one, a 32-week fetus playing with its nose.