Prominent in the news this week were breathtaking, high-definition images of babies in the womb, as MPs voted not to lower the upper time limit on abortions. The debate was made more poignant by these extraordinary pictures of foetuses, which were made possible by giant leaps in baby-scanning technology.

Until recently, scans of unborn children were used solely by doctors to diagnose foetal abnormalities. But baby scanning is rapidly moving into the commercial sector, being billed as high-tech family entertainment. According to the sales pitches of growing numbers of non-diagnostic scanning packages advertised in baby magazines and on websites, these futuristic scans can help parents, friends and family “bond” with the unborn baby. The private scanning company www.beforethestork.co.uk claims on its website: “Ultrasound scans are believed to enable families to form an early affectionate bond to their unborn child.”

With doting parents-to-be willing to pay up to £250 for images of their unborn children, baby scans have suddenly become big business.

Brave new unborn world

So what's so special about the new technology? Conventional pregnancy scans, the standard option offered to most NHS patients, are static images taken with a two-dimensional (2-D) scan. Parents take home a grainy black-and-white photograph. However, in these blurry 2-D images, it is sometimes hard to make out which bit of the baby's body is which. Commercial clinics, on the other hand, are offering ever better quality scans that produce amazing, high-definition moving images that can be downloaded on to a computer or mobile phone.

At the moment, mums-to-be have NHS ultrasound scans at 12 and 20 weeks to check that the foetus is healthy. These new moving images, described somewhat unscientifically as “4-D” (the fourth dimension being time), are for the most part intended to be used in addition to the 2-D scans, rather than in place of them.

The Portland, a private hospital for women and children in Central London, recently opened a new scanning unit offering the latest 4-D scans. However, for them, medical diagnosis rather than entertainment is the priority, according to Dr Pranav Panday, the co-director of foetal medicine. These 4-D scans, which are performed at 24 to 30 weeks, can be downloaded on to an iPod, e-mailed to friends or even used as a screensaver.

“With 4-D scanning, the image is in real time and you can show parents moving images of the expression on their baby's face or its legs kicking,” says Dr Panday.

Meanwhile, the technology company Philips has just released a cutting-edge vision of how pregnancy scans might look in the next five years. For its prototype, the Celebrating Pregnancy scanning system, both parents sit on a comfortable double seat. There's no cold gel or uncomfortable probe, just a soft fabric belt that wraps gently round the pregnant belly and projects real-time sound and vision from the womb on to a giant rounded tummy-shaped screen on the wall.

This is still a “concept system” and has yet to be developed in the laboratory. However, according to Frank Rettenbacher, a Philips consultant product researcher, this or something similar is predicted to become reality within three to five years. “This is on our roadmap at Philips. We will definitely see some dramatic changes in baby scans in the next few years,” he says.

The Philips system will transfer the scan to a “bebescope”, a hand-held device that parents can take home, which shows a virtual reality image of the baby complete with real recordings of the baby's heart beat and sounds from her womb. “Parents can move backwards and forwards through time to track development and rotate their ‘virtual' baby in any direction for the view of their choice,” says Rettenbacher.

“Ultrasound birth scans are traditionally viewed as a risk-reduction measure. But the sight of an unborn baby is a source of joy, reassurance and affirmation, not just for a mother-to-be, but for the whole family,” he says. “Unlike traditional 2-D imaging, which is often grainy and unrecognisable, 4-D technology allows parents to ‘see' their baby in amazing detail, giving them a bonding experience that will last a lifetime.”

Do we really need to bond before birth?

This futuristic system heralds a new era of baby scans as a leisure activity. But do we really need to bond with unborn babies?

Dr Panday says: “I think this baby-bonding business before birth is commercial rubbish. For centuries women have been having babies and the first time they see them is at birth and the attachment and bonding is fantastic. I am sceptical that there is any evidence that seeing a 4-D baby scan makes the bonding process any better than seeing a 2-D image.”

He says that the amazing images are a bonus, but the scans at the Portland are primarily used to check foetal health, for example, checking where the placenta is, checking that growth and development are normal.

Dr Sandra Wheatley, a psychologist who specialises in the mental health of new mothers, is concerned that the technology may make pregnancy even more stressful for some expectant parents. “It can bring with it expectations that you should bond even before your baby is born,” she says. “It's unwelcome pressure for some. There is plenty of time to bond after the baby is born.”

However, she concedes that some families may find the whole thing exciting and want as many pictures as possible. “If somebody wants a set of coasters made showing the baby's head in 4-D, we may think it's in bad taste, but we shouldn't prevent them from doing it.”

Could there be a health risk?

Dr Kevin Martin, the president of the British Medical Ultrasound Society, is concerned that keepsake scans might also be a health risk. For this reason, he says they should always be done by a professional who follows strict safety guidelines and has proper procedures in place to check for abnormalities and, if necessary, to counsel the parents.

However, checking that a professional is qualified is not always simple. There is no single regulatory body for practitioners, although a consultation is under way to change this. The British Medical Ultrasound Society recommends asking the sonographers what their qualifications are and who they are registered with; the main two bodies will be the Society of Radiographers and Royal College of Midwives.

“A souvenir scan has no medical benefit, so patients should not be exposed to any risks even at the lowest level,” says Dr Martin. “Souvenir scans should never be carried out in the first trimester when the baby is most vulnerable. If you must have one, it should be done in the second or third trimester and you should always ensure that the person is properly trained and knows what to do if he or she incidentally finds an abnormality.”

He adds that souvenir home video clips of scans could also worry some vulnerable expectant parents who might anxiously review the footage at home, imagining that they can see abnormalities.

But it is the ability of these new 4-D scans to diagnose abnormalities ever earlier that is their true benefit. “The sort of abnormalities, such as structural malformations and heart defects, that we were looking for at 20 weeks' gestation just five years ago, we can spot on these scans at 11 weeks. Never forget that baby bonding and pretty pictures are just optional extras.

“What this 4-D technology is really there for is to allow clinicians to improve the health of mother and baby - and it will eventually be available throughout the NHS,” says Dr Panday.

GOOD IDEA OR WASTE OF TIME?

What a good idea......Joanne Marsh, owns the 4-D scanning company, Beforethe stork.co.uk. She has two children, 5 and 7 months. When Marsh, from Liverpool, was pregnant with her first child five years ago, she was dissatisfied with her NHS ultrasound, she found the whole process impersonal. “I wanted to see and know more, and in a more relaxed atmosphere.” She had a 4-D scan for her second child and has since set up the scanning company beforethestork.co.uk with two friends. “When I had my 4-D scan with my second baby I was amazed; the faces that he did in the pictures represented his personality. I showed my daughter and she thought it was great. She actually realised it was a baby, which she wouldn't have been able to do from a 2-D black-and- white image.

“The scans seem to help the bonding process. It's especially moving for dads, as they don't feel the movements that the mums do. Many cry when they see the images.”

What a waste of time.....Anne Ashworth, the Property Editor of The Times, has a son, aged 17. A sure way to make a teenager cringe is to show his cutie-pie toddler snaps to his mates. So picture, then, the degree of chagrin that will be felt 15 years hence by the baby born this year whose parents had him scanned in 4-D. The squirming of this adolescent at the sight of his in utero self will resemble nothing so much as the writhing and turning of the foetus on the DVD.

When I asked several mothers-to-be if they would like to see their progeny in 4-D living colour, they were not keen; the unease produced among those happy to be pregnant by the recent row over terminations was a big factor in this distaste and disapproval.

Some were deterred by the weirdness of the images; one wondered if the early suggestion that the baby could develop his father's nose, or his mother's forehead might cause discord, rather than cooing. Others, however, thought the fee (about £190) might be worth paying “for the emotional input”.

But there are signs that 4-D technology may be raising expectations among the expectant. It's not only fashion pictures that get Photoshopped. One creative mother “tidied up” her 20-week scan. There was no problem with the baby, but the image was patchy and ill-defined. Who doesn't want their child to look their best - whatever their age?

VIDEOS COURTESY OF THE PORTLAND HOSPITAL www.theportlandhospital.com

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