"That speck is a fragment of fetal skull."

In fetal skulls the sutures are wide to allow slight movement during birth.

The doctor makes a hole in the fetal skull, suctions the contents with a catheter and collapses the skull so it can pass through the cervix.

Craniosynostosis occurs when the fetal skull and facial bones fuse too soon in utero, disrupting normal bone growth.

By contrast, the "intact D & X" collapses the fetal skull, minimizing possible damage to the woman's uterus and cervix.

The doctor then pierces the fetal skull with an instrument and drains some of its contents.

When physicians cut into fetal skulls in intact D&X procedures, he added, they risk tearing or cutting the uterus.

The doctor pierces the fetal skull with an instrument and drains its contents, allowing the skull to collapse enough to fit through the opening.

It is present in a fetal skull so that the skull can bend and is very elastic at the time of birth.

Her focus moved from the arc of fetal skull to the bright shard embedded in Nikki's pubis.