A crowded womb

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New 4D scans reveal how twins and triplets bond before birth:

He's my brother: A silicone model of fraternal twins, also aged 20 to 30 weeks old. Unlike identical twins, fraternal twins have their own placenta and amniotic sac, which prevents them from actually touching each other.

By the end of the second trimester, triplets are usually too large to be captured on one scan. This computer-generated image is a rare chance to look into the triplets' world.

A silicone model of twins aged 20 to 30 weeks. At this stage they are about 20cm in length, from crown to rump, and weigh 350g. These are identical twins who share a single placenta and amniotic sac.

A silicone model of the quadruplet pregnancy of Julie Carles, who gave birth last year. Julie's quads were identical, meaning her fertilised embryo first split into two and then each of those embryos split again. The model shows the babies at seven months' gestation.

The scans are a highly developed form of traditional ultrasound where very high frequency sound waves are used to produce images of what is inside the body.

As with older forms of ultra-sound, sound waves a emitted from a transducer, or probe, which is placed on the mother's abdomen and then moved to 'look at' areas in the uterus. These sound waves bounce back off the foetus, helping to create a 'picture' of the child on a screen.

The new 4D scan uses the same frequency of sound waves w as in a normal ultrasound. But the sound waves are directed from many more angles, producing a 'real-time' video of the foetus as it moves and allowing scientists to say the images are in four dimensions.

This advanced technology has allowed scientists to capture the development of foetuses like never before, including twins and triplets jostling for space in the womb while grasping each other's hands and even faces.

The images have also allowed scientists to create life-size silicone models and astonishing computer-generated images of the multiple foetuses, some of which are seen in the pictures shown here.

[...]

London-based obstetrician Professor Stuart Campbell, who is the pioneer of 4D scans in Britain, performed the scans for a National Geographic documentary.

He says: 'It was fascinating to see the babies in more detail than ever before. I was amazed at the detail in the faces - smiles, blinking - and the interaction between multiple foetuses.'

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/arti...picbox&ct=5

[Savanphil 3]

Technology never ceases to amaze me.

Technology never ceases to amaze me.

[anya-D 8]

fraternal twins have thier own sac.... what about the pic no. 4 with the quart? I thought those are Identical, why are they not in the same sac??

[mrc 0]

I can't believe all of these provocative pictures being posted.

I'm sure you can see a wang in there somewhere.

[almaty 19]

damn, there are allot of biscuits in that oven

[brnidokiegurl 0]

Ok men NOWWWWWW can you imagine how it must feel!!!!

[Thingee 0]

fraternal twins have thier own sac.... what about the pic no. 4 with the quart? I thought those are Identical, why are they not in the same sac??

Not all identicals share a sac..most yes, but not all. It isn't clear from the image whether or not they shared a placenta..again some do, some don't. It's actually safer for multiple pregnancies if each baby has it's own sac and placenta.

[KarenCee 3]

National Geographic Channel showed a two hour programme about multiples Sunday night. It was awesome. There are a few cases where identicals share the same sac...it's called monoamniotic twins (my twin sons were monos) and it *can* be a very dangerous pregnancy (my sons didn't survive).

This new 4-D technology is incredible...wish I'd been able to have this while I was pregnant with Michael and Matthew.

[Peggy 1]

Thats pretty neat.

[The_dip_sticks 0]

WOW my mouth droped. Pics like this always amaze me!

[chri'stina 190]

National Geographic Channel showed a two hour programme about multiples Sunday night. It was awesome. There are a few cases where identicals share the same sac...it's called monoamniotic twins (my twin sons were monos) and it *can* be a very dangerous pregnancy (my sons didn't survive).

This new 4-D technology is incredible...wish I'd been able to have this while I was pregnant with Michael and Matthew.

I watched that program too. It was cool.

[ace13 0]

Babies