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Windows on the Womb
by Lauren Aguirre
Perhaps you or a loved one is pregnant. If the pregnancy is
far enough along, mom's belly is getting bigger, and the
baby is kicking—both good signs. In the past, these
external cues were practically the only measures of how the
pregnancy was progressing. Today doctors have myriad
techniques for tracking the growth and health of a baby
throughout pregnancy. Some tests are commonly used during
the course of most pregnancies; others have risks, and
doctors turn to them only during high-risk pregnancies. Some
tests give peace of mind, or force parents to make agonizing
decisions, or provide information that can save a baby's
life. Here, explore many of the currently available
screening techniques that are changing the nature of
pregnancy and parenthood.
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Lauren Aguirre is executive editor of NOVA Online.
Photos: (1) Corbis Images; (2-3,8) WGBH/NOVA; (5) Joshua
A. Copel, MD Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology,
Yale University School of Medicine; (6) Adam Anderson,
PhD. Diagnostic Radiology and Applied Physics, Yale
University School of Medicine; (4,7) Courtesy of the Fetal
Medicine Foundation.
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| Updated November 2001
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