Posted on 09/12/2003 6:52:02 PM PDT by Pikamax
New hi-tech scans show babies smiling and crying before birth
James Meikle, health correspondent Saturday September 13, 2003 The Guardian
Images published for the first time yesterday seem to suggest that unborn babies can smile, blink and cry weeks before they leave the womb. The pictures of foetuses about 26 weeks after conception have been captured by state-of-the-art scanning equipment now being employed at some clinics and teaching hospitals.
Experts can now debate whether this apparent grin reflects an emotional response or is a simple physical reaction, helping prepare baby for the outside world.
The smile might appear at 26 weeks development, but the new techniques clearly show limb movements at eight weeks, the foetus leaping, turning and "jumping" at 11-12 weeks, intricate movement of fingers at 15 weeks and yawning at 20 weeks.
Obstetrician Stuart Campbell, who has been using the Austrian-developed equipment at the private Create Health Clinic, London, for two years, said: "It is remarkable that a newborn baby does not smile for about six weeks after birth. But before birth, most babies smile frequently. This may indicate the baby's trouble-free existence in the womb and the relatively traumatic first few weeks after birth when the baby is reacting to a strange environment."
Professor Campbell, who is also head of obstetrics and gynaecology at St George's medical school, London, said: "With this new advance, there are many questions that can now be investigated. Do babies with genetic problems such as Down's 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 baby blink when we assume it is dark inside the uterus?"
The £120,000 scanner that makes this possible costs two-three times more than conventional equipment. Prof Campbell thinks he was the first to use it in Britain. The machine develops ultrasound so that it can be transformed and shaded to produce detailed surface features from the foetus which move in real time.
It is already improving diagnosis of abnormalities such as cleft lip and palate. "One woman I scanned, whose baby had a cleft palate, wanted to take the pictures to a surgeon to discuss the surgery after birth. Parents often don't know what such abnormalities look like so they have terrible mental images. The parents faced up to the reality of what the cleft palate looked like and bonded with the baby. It helped them come to terms with the problem long before the birth of the baby."
Prof Campbell said scanner techniques were improving. "Some mothers say: 'I feel I am almost cheating. I am enjoying my baby before it is born.'
"The bond between parents and baby is enormous. The reaction is overwhelming especially with fathers, who rarely get involved. Before they sat in the corner. Now they really show emotion. I enjoy scanning and looking at babies. It is so informative about babies and behaviour. Every scan is an adventure."
Horsepucky! My daughter had an adorable smile at age 2 days and still in the hospital. I doubt very seriously she was that unusual... aside from being the cutest little baby girl in the history of the universe, that is.
It's obvious that this is going to scare the living daylights out of the pre-natal murder industry. I can't wait to see how they respond.
The problem is that smiling, yawning and crying are very human. Pro-abortion fascists get very upset when the Untermenschen emote.
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