A modelled picture of twins in the womb

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A TV documentary that revealed stunning images of animals in the womb is returning - this time featuring humans.

The team that made the film Animals In The Womb returns to the screen tonight with Miracles In The Womb, focusing on incredible stories of multiple foetal development.

The Channel 4 documentary will show twins appearing to embrace in the womb, siblings engaged in early game playing and never-before-seen footage of "vanishing twin syndrome".

Combining revolutionary "4D" ultrasound footage (three dimensions plus real time) with state-of-the art graphics and lifelike modelling, the film-makers promise "a stunning window on the often fraught world of multiple pregnancy - from conception to birth".

The film follows real-life rare pregnancies, including identical quadruplets conceived by chance (estimated as a 1 in 64 million occurrence) and triplets - the result of a rare phenomenon called superfecundation, where one of the foetuses is conceived at a separate time to the other two.

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And in a television first, the film reveals through a 4D scan a rare case of the so-called "vanishing twin syndrome".

This sees the death and absorption of a twin or higher multiple into the womb. In most cases, vanishing twin syndrome goes unnoticed by mother and doctor alike.

Jeremy Dear, head of development at Pioneer Productions, said: "This film opens a window to another amazing and unseen world - that of human multiples in the womb.

"Our work with leading obstetricians and ultrastenographers has allowed us to accurately recreate the environment and extraordinary developmental journeys of twins, triplets and quads from conception to birth.

"The computer animation, models and 4D scans show just how complex and fascinating this journey is and, in particular, allow us to investigate the way in which such multiples interact in the womb - they are amazingly tactile, often appearing to embrace, arm-wrestle and fight in ways that some believe are replicated after birth as they grow up."