For the first time MRI video has given a view of what happens inside a woman's womb during childbirth.
Researchers from Charite University Hospital in Berlin this week released a short clip of the footage captured in December 2010, New Scientist reports.
The 30-second movie reveals stage two of labour as the fetus travels through the birth canal but stops short of showing the child delivered.
Researchers used a technique called cinematic MRI, in which multiple MRI still images are taken and spliced together to create a highly-detailed video clip.
The video has enabled scientists to study the movement of the fetus and its position as it moves through the birth canal.
The technique was also recently turned on unborn twins to discover why one was receiving more blood than the other, causing one to become larger.
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