MUMS-TO-BE will be able to see their babies in 4D thanks to an investment of £317,000.

Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust has bought two maternity and three abdominal scanners.

The Toshiba Aplio MX ultrasound scanners replace outdated equipment.

One maternity and one abdominal scanner are to be used in Clacton District Hospital and the other three are at Colchester General Hospital.

The maternity scanner in Colchester is so high-tech it produces 3D and 4D images, which mean that doctors looking for face defects or womb abnormalities, can see far more clearly and detect defects earlier.

It will not be used routinely but when an abnormality is suspected.

A 4D image is like a 3D image but includes movement.

Grace Pettican, manager of the trust’s ultrasound department, said: “Ultrasound technology is advancing rapidly so it is important to update our equipment in order to maintain high standards of patient care and provide high-quality and safe service.

“For example, the maternity scanner at Colchester is much more user-friendly than the one it has replaced and produces better images.”

Maternity scanners are used to check for Down’s syndrome in unborn babies as well as for routine 20-week check-ups and growth scans.

Abdominal scans are taken of organs such as the liver, kidney and gall bladder, and of the vascular and musculo-skeletal systems.

The new equipment shows up minute details as well as producing better images of liver lesions, meaning there is less need for the more expensive CT and MRI scans.