Your Developing Baby

By Peter Doubilet, M.D., Ph.D., Carol Benson, M.D.,
and Roanne Weisman

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Congratulations, parents-to-be! You're about to embark on a momentous journey. Even more exciting, you're the first generation of parents who — thanks to 3D and conventional ultrasound — can actually “see” your child before he or she is born. This wonderful, one-of-a-kind guide takes you through every stage of your baby's development, from conception to delivery — with more than 200 images and drawings to illustrate each glorious moment.

Get a guided tour of a baby's journey with:

• Breathtaking 3D images of babies' faces, limbs, and other features
• Detailed 2D ultrasounds of developing organs and bones inside the body
• Visual pointers on what to look for, and what you're seeing, on the screen

3-D ultrasound images reveal a developing baby's features in amazing detail.

With this illuminating guide, you'll be able to see how doctors determine if your baby is a boy or girl and whether you're having twins or multiples. You'll be able to watch the growth of your baby's hands, feet, heart, head, and more. Best of all, you'll be able to actively participate in the greatest journey of all: from single cell to bringing a new baby into the world.

Visit the Your Develoving Baby Web site to see stunning video clips of babies' heartbeat and first movements inside the womb.

Excerpt

Preface
You may have picked up this book because you or someone you know is embarking on the momentous nine-month journey of pregnancy and you are curious about the miraculous hidden world inside the womb — a world that has become fully visible only recently. After generations of being limited to wondering and imagining, we now have the technology to peer inside the uterus and actually watch the development of a new human being from a tony group of cells to a fully developed baby, ready to emerge from the mother’s body to greet the world.

Through ultrasound images, not only can we see the developing heart, lungs, and other internal organs, we can — thanks to new three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound techniques — see the baby’s face and limbs. We can even capture movement of the unborn baby on video. Doctors use these images and videos to check for problems that may arise during pregnancy and to help guide the care of pregnant women. But for parents-to-be one of the exciting aspects of this technology is the opportunity to start to get to know their baby before the big arrival day.

Author Biography

Peter Doubilet, M.D., Ph.D., and Carol B. Benson, M.D., are both professors of radiology at Harvard Medical School. He is the senior vice chair of radiology and she is director of ultrasound and co-director of high-risk obstetrical ultrasound at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. They are married to each other and between them have five children. Roanne Weisman is a professional health writer.