ABSTRACT
The notion that viewing ultrasound images can improve the maternal-foetal bond is remarkably prevalent in both scientific literatures and popular narratives. Technology applied and managed, mediates the relationship between foetus and pregnant woman. The theory of ultrasound bonding has since entered the vernacular and appears in popular pregnancy guides and magazines with little apparent need for introduction or explanation. Janelle Taylor identifies two radical shifts from earlier ideas: firstly, it shifts the emphasis to forming emotional attachment with the baby before birth; secondly, it suggests that emotional and social ties can be formed through spectatorship, through viewing ultrasound images, rather than physical and social interaction. Interest in ultrasound bonding has been revived by the availability of 3/4D technology with the claim often made that 3/4D has a greater impact on expectant-mothers than 2D imagery. The mechanism for this frequently goes unstated but the claim seems to rely on faith in the visual and high expectations of the latest realistic images.
