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Scientists believe they can show the effects of smoking on babies in the womb - through tiny movements on their faces.

Researchers have used 4-d ultrasound scans have to produce the pictures.

Pregnant women have been urged to give up cigarettes because they heighten the risk of premature birth, respiratory problems and even cot death.

Now experts hope these images will encourage mums who are struggling to give up.

Dr Nadja Reissland has studied moving 4-d scan images and recorded thousands of tiny movements in the womb.

(Image: Dr Nadja Reissland/PA)

She monitored 20 mums attending the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, four of whom smoked an average of 14 cigarettes a day.

After studying their scans at 24, 28, 32 and 36 weeks, she detected that foetuses whose mothers smoked continued to show significantly higher rates of mouth movement and self-touching than those carried by non-smokers.

Foetuses usually move their mouths and touch themselves less as they gain more control the closer they get to birth.

(Image: Dr Nadja Reissland/PA)

The pilot study, which Dr Reissland hopes to expand with a bigger sample, showed babies carried by smokers may have delayed development of the central nervous system.

The research, conducted by Durham and Lancaster University, is published in the journal Acta Paediatrica.

Dr Reissland, from Durham's Psychology Department, said: "A larger study is needed to confirm these results and to investigate specific effects, including the interaction of maternal stress and smoking."

She believed that videos of the difference in pre-birth development could help mothers give up smoking.

(Image: Dr Nadja Reissland/PA)

But she was against demonising mothers and called for more support for them to give up.

Currently, 12% of pregnant women in the UK smoke but the rate is over 20% in the Durham, Darlington and Tees area.

All the babies in her study were born healthy, and were of normal size and weight.

Dr Reissland, who is an expert in studying foetal development, thanked the mothers who took part in her study, especially those who smoked.

"I'm really grateful, they did a good thing," she said. "These are special people and they overcame the stigma to help others."

(Image: Dr Nadja Reissland/PA)

Co-author Professor Brian Francis, of Lancaster University, added: "Technology means we can now see what was previously hidden, revealing how smoking affects the development of the foetus in ways we did not realise.

"This is yet further evidence of the negative effects of smoking in pregnancy."