Moment of Birth Captured on MRI

What happens inside a woman's body during childbirth? Doctors really didn't have a clear picture - until now. Using a special MRI scanner, doctors at Berlin's Charite Hospital recently captured images of birth as it happened.

In this image, taken moments before birth, the baby (facing left) can be seen approaching the birth canal.

In this image, taken moments after birth, the baby is safely out but the placenta is still visible inside the mother's body.

Now the placenta has been expelled.

Not a radiologist? You may have trouble making out the baby's head in this image taken of the mother's pelvic area.

Unlike conventional tube-shaped MRI scanners, the one used by the German researchers is of the "open" variety - plenty of room for mother and baby.

This is a view through the MRI scanner during the birth. The researcher is wearing earmuffs to protect her hearing from the loud noise emitted by the scanner.

The team that made it all possible.